Saturday, May 28, 2011

The Wednesday Wars

Book:  The Wednesday Wars
Author:  Gary D. Schmidt
Like/Don't Like:  How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.

Holling Hoodhood is a seventh grader on Long Island and the only Presbyterian in a class full of Catholics and Jews.  All of his classmates leave on Wednesday afternoons for their different religious classes, leaving Holling alone with his teacher, Mrs. Baker.  To pass the time she makes him read Shakespeare plays, which at first he hates, naturally.  But over the course of the year he learns to love them and finds them very applicable to everyday life. 

So, that's it in a nutshell.  But it is an incredibly nuanced story.  The writing is magnificent.  It is sweet and very funny and I laughed and cried my way through it. I loved Holling.  His voice was so distinct, as are all the characters in it.  Everything wove together beautifully and bonus, Shakespeare!

2 comments:

Kaylie said...

LIKE! This book was a great read. It was a hilarious, gripping book, that I could not put down. Recommended to kids 9+

Rach said...

I read this and really enjoyed it as well. It was lots of fun.