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katherinezee 's review for:
The Wednesday Wars
by Gary D. Schmidt
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A MUST READ!!!!
Some may wonder why I read as many YA and Intermediate novels as adult fiction. The reason is — there is no less depth, sophistication, and literary mastery in the weaving of a good novel for youngsters as there is in the New York Times Top Ten! (This is my second Gary D Schmidt Newbery winning novel in a row.). Give them a try sometime, and might I suggest you start with this one, written by a fellow Baby Boomer that follows Holling Hoodhood (yes—that is his name!) as he suffers through his 7th grade year in 1967 in Mrs Baker’s class in Camille Junior High on Long Island during the peak of the Vietnam War.
Every Wednesday afternoon, the Catholic half of Holling’s class goes to St. Adelbert’s for catechism and the other half goes to Hebrew School at the local synagogue. That leaves Holling, the one and only Presbyterian, and the only student, left in Mrs. Baker’s class.
I don’t want to give anything else away other than to say I don’t usually lose control and guffaw out loud when reading a funny part in a novel and then find myself tearing up 9 pages later, but this book will do it to you—promise! Also, the book is chock full of glistening nuggets of wisdom and and insight. I didn’t want it to end❣️
PS. Whether you like William Shakespeare or not, whether you’ve ever understood Shakespeare, you will be much better versed on Shakespearean allusions after reading this novel, and, whether or not you have ever read Shakespeare in junior high or high school, I guarantee you will be blown away by the author’s masterful way of using Shakespeare’s allusions to make you guffaw out loud or tear up!
The story is clean and would make a great classroom novel in English, Social Studies, gifted classes in grades 6-12. The writing is so exquisite—can be used by higher grades for teaching the writing of humor.
Themes: Shakespeare, Vietnam, humorous writing, dysfunctional families, the impact of war on communities and families, racism and prejudice, friendship, bullying.
Some may wonder why I read as many YA and Intermediate novels as adult fiction. The reason is — there is no less depth, sophistication, and literary mastery in the weaving of a good novel for youngsters as there is in the New York Times Top Ten! (This is my second Gary D Schmidt Newbery winning novel in a row.). Give them a try sometime, and might I suggest you start with this one, written by a fellow Baby Boomer that follows Holling Hoodhood (yes—that is his name!) as he suffers through his 7th grade year in 1967 in Mrs Baker’s class in Camille Junior High on Long Island during the peak of the Vietnam War.
Every Wednesday afternoon, the Catholic half of Holling’s class goes to St. Adelbert’s for catechism and the other half goes to Hebrew School at the local synagogue. That leaves Holling, the one and only Presbyterian, and the only student, left in Mrs. Baker’s class.
I don’t want to give anything else away other than to say I don’t usually lose control and guffaw out loud when reading a funny part in a novel and then find myself tearing up 9 pages later, but this book will do it to you—promise! Also, the book is chock full of glistening nuggets of wisdom and and insight. I didn’t want it to end❣️
PS. Whether you like William Shakespeare or not, whether you’ve ever understood Shakespeare, you will be much better versed on Shakespearean allusions after reading this novel, and, whether or not you have ever read Shakespeare in junior high or high school, I guarantee you will be blown away by the author’s masterful way of using Shakespeare’s allusions to make you guffaw out loud or tear up!
The story is clean and would make a great classroom novel in English, Social Studies, gifted classes in grades 6-12. The writing is so exquisite—can be used by higher grades for teaching the writing of humor.
Themes: Shakespeare, Vietnam, humorous writing, dysfunctional families, the impact of war on communities and families, racism and prejudice, friendship, bullying.