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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
I thought I had already reviewed this book but I guess not. I read it and enjoyed it well enough but I wasn't sure if it would appeal to students. Instead of cataloguing it straight away, I passed it to a pair of 10 year old twins who are voracious readers. The brother has finished it and said it was really good and the sister is reading it now but told me she is enjoying it so far.
I have such mixed feelings about this book! There were so many issues. The main character is a bit unrealistic. I found it so strange to read about all the great adventures he and his teacher went on (by themselves) and all the great talks they had (in a classroom by themselves) while thinking about how fast that teacher would be fired and most likely sued for doing the same things today. Plus, wasn't she very clearly playing favorites? Anyway, the mother is a non-character and the sister goes to "find herself" because she is a flower child and ends up needing to be rescued by her brother almost immediately. There is no real resolution for her. I just really didn't like the way the women were portrayed in this book. All of that bothered me, and yet I really enjoyed this book. *shrugs*
I really enjoyed this book. It was cute and in parts laugh out loud funny. It reminded me so much of my mom that I wanted to call her every other page to discuss it with her. Of course, I don’t think she has read it, but she should (Are you reading this mom? This is your kind of book!!) Very cute, very sweet, very good. Loved it!!
Interesting YA book, I liked the references to Shakespeare and appreciated the growth of the characters across the story.
adventurous
medium-paced
I read this book about three years ago and it wasn’t my favorite. I reread it for a book club this past year and found that I absolutely loved it. The story has a big focus on Shakespeare’s plays. Two of the three main plays that were mentioned (the tempest and Macbeth) are plays I recently performed in which was so cool. I recognized the lines that he was quoting and all the intricacies of how that was woven with the plot. Incredible. Great story of middle school growing up. Overall really fun read.
The Wednesday Wars is not just a coming of age story for young adults. This book transcends genre and does several amazing things:
• Packs a fully grown wallop of emotion.
• Expertly captures historical significance of 197-1968.
• Engenders interest in the political climate and civil issues of the time, which gets today's kids thinking about people like MLK jr, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Leonid Breshnev, and Bobby Kennedy.
• It made me interested in reading Shakespeare again.
• Captures, however briefly, the magic of baseball.
• Shows the miraculous but also the not miraculous without schmaltz.
Gary Schmidt also went true throwback style, so much so that I had to reconfirm the publication date. When reading older YA books, my son and I are often amazed at chapter length. Most contemporary books have short chapters as a rule, and older YA books have epically long chapters. Well, Gary Schmidt does not shy away from a long chapter, which really adds a historical feel to the story. I'm sorry it's over and I'm looking forward to Okay for Now.
• Packs a fully grown wallop of emotion.
• Expertly captures historical significance of 197-1968.
• Engenders interest in the political climate and civil issues of the time, which gets today's kids thinking about people like MLK jr, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Leonid Breshnev, and Bobby Kennedy.
• It made me interested in reading Shakespeare again.
• Captures, however briefly, the magic of baseball.
• Shows the miraculous but also the not miraculous without schmaltz.
Gary Schmidt also went true throwback style, so much so that I had to reconfirm the publication date. When reading older YA books, my son and I are often amazed at chapter length. Most contemporary books have short chapters as a rule, and older YA books have epically long chapters. Well, Gary Schmidt does not shy away from a long chapter, which really adds a historical feel to the story. I'm sorry it's over and I'm looking forward to Okay for Now.
The book started off slow but by the end I thought it was a pretty good book. I loved reading how the current events of 1967 affected this characters life.
A perfect book. I hadn’t read it in a while and had almost forgotten how good it is.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 on Goodreads because this was so much more than I expected.
I don't remember why I added this book to my TBR, but it fit a prompt for a reading challenge, so I went for it. I didn't even really know what it was about, other than a kid during the Vietnam War.
I love that the Vietnam War was the backdrop of Holling's story. As someone that has lived through an historical event or two, I always thought that the event itself would be a much larger presence in my daily life. But Holling is a kid. His big concerns are looking dumb in some tights and trying to figure out why his teacher hates him. He's aware that there's a war and that the adults in his life are stressing about it, but it's so separate from him.
I have a lot of thoughts about this book, and might try to write a better review later when I can make sense of them. But overall, I just really loved this.
I don't remember why I added this book to my TBR, but it fit a prompt for a reading challenge, so I went for it. I didn't even really know what it was about, other than a kid during the Vietnam War.
I love that the Vietnam War was the backdrop of Holling's story. As someone that has lived through an historical event or two, I always thought that the event itself would be a much larger presence in my daily life. But Holling is a kid. His big concerns are looking dumb in some tights and trying to figure out why his teacher hates him. He's aware that there's a war and that the adults in his life are stressing about it, but it's so separate from him.
I have a lot of thoughts about this book, and might try to write a better review later when I can make sense of them. But overall, I just really loved this.