Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

Bildungsroman at its best! The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt transports us to Long Island, NY back to 1967. Readers meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh grader stuck with spending Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of his class goes to religious classes at their prospective churches. Holling is positive his teacher hates him.  This book throws a wide loop. There’s several Shakespeare plays, Mickey Mantle signing baseballs, cream puffs, a snowstorm, disengaged parents, cross country, the Vietnam War is in the background along with rats, yes, rats! Holling’s dad is image focused, how he and his architect company are perceived by the town is all he thinks about. When Holling’s sister leaves home the father is unconcerned!  He might be an awesome architect but he is a lousy father with a capital L. Let’s jump into The Wednesday Wars! Thanks so much for listening! Let’s connect to reflect! Blessings!