gillianalice 's review for:

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
4.5
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.