WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary D. Schmidt

Jacket Art by Jonathan Gray 2007

The year is 1967, and Holling Hoodhood is a seventh grader at Camillo Junior High in a New York suburb.  Holling has to spend every Wednesday with Mrs. Baker, while others have religious classes.  Holling is absolutely sure that Mrs. Baker hates him because she is making him read the plays of Shakespeare.  But, there are much bigger things to worry about, such as the Vietnam War and the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy.  His father is insistent that Holling and his sister be on their best behavior, as the success of his father's architecture business depends on it.  Gary D. Schmidt tells a fabulous tale of Holling's troubles of growing up as a pre-teen in the 60s, with bullies, his sister turning into a flower child, and tights for a costume!

Even though Holling, the main character, is a child of the 60s, todays children will relate to him.  Holling has the same troubles that todays preteens have, such as first crushes, noninvolved parents, and bullies.  Through this story, we see the view point of preteens during the Vietnam War: practicing air raid drills and the beginning of segregation.  True to these times, the reader sees adults and children being rude to others not like them, and a neighborhood separated because of religious beliefs and backgrounds.  Readers will fall in love with Holling, as he tries hard to please others while, at the same time, he tries to find his true self.

Schmidt does a wonderful job of capturing the characters feelings during this time of war.  The reader experiences numerous emotions from the characters as they are forced to have drills for air raids and learn of missing soldiers.  Schmidt also portrays the struggles between adults and teenagers during this time in history with so much change happening.

Schmidt, Gary D. The Wednesday Wars. New York: Clarion Books, 2007.  ISBN  9780618724833

Awards for The Wednesday Wars

2008 Newberry Honor Book

2008 ALA Notable Childrens Books

2008 ALA Best Book for Young Adults

Reviews for The Wednesday Wars

"Schmidt has a way of getting to the emotional heart of every scene without overstatement, allowing the reader and Holling to understand the great truths swirling around them on their own terms…another virtuoso turn…”
 — Kirkus

[A] quietly powerful coming-of-age novel. . . . [Schmidt] offers a gentle, hopeful, moving story of a boy who, with the right help, learns to stretch beyond the limitations of his family, his violent times, and his fear, and leap into his future with his eyes and his heart wide open.”
 — Booklist

More Books by Gary D. Schmidt

What Came From the Stars. New York: Clarion Books, 2012.  ISBN  978054761213

Okay for Now. New York: Clarion Books, 2011.  ISBN  9780544022805

Trouble.  New York: Clarion Books, 2008.  ISBN  9780547331331

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. New York: Clarion Books, 2004.  ISBN 9780618439294

More Historical Fiction set in the 1960s

Wiles, Deborah.  Countdown. Scholastic, 2010.  ISBN 9780545106054

Gantos, Jack. Dead End in Norvelt. MacMillan Publishers, 2012. ISBN  978-374379933 

Williams-Garcia, Rita. One Crazy Summer. Harper Collins, 2010 ISBN  9780060760885