A review by bittersweet_symphony
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

4.0

The first half is filled mostly with humor and middle school shenanigans, but offers occasionally poignant moments. The plot subtly builds up, and by the end delivers one profound scene after another. The story avoids becoming overly dramatic, but provides for some touching life lessons. I felt reminiscent for the tv show, "The Wonder Years" as I read. You see many parallels with the father-daughter relationship in particular. It doesn't feel like a coming of age story until the very end.

Schmidt reminds us that realizing our love for someone usually requires the possibility of losing them. Falling out of love, in real life, happens little by little and by choice. We may feel like fortune's fools, and sometimes it seems as if "life is governed by slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." Life has sad moments that cover us with powerlessness, but in the end, we choose our own endings: comedy or tragedy. "A comedy isn't about being funny...A comedy is about characters who dare to know that they may choose a happy ending after all."

Shakespeare teaches us all of this, and Schmidt does a great job bringing that wisdom to a younger audience.