It’s easy for adults to forget that their carefree school days weren’t always carefree. There were mean teachers, mean principals, bullies, overbearing parents, and injustices that no child should have to face.
Seventh grader Holling HoodHood (how’s that for a name?) thinks his English teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates him because he’s a Presbyterian. Therefore, Holling is the only student in her classroom on Wednesday afternoons while the others attend religious services. She assigns him unpleasant chores like dusting erasers, cleaning blackboards, and washing windows. Holling is afraid to complain because his father is trying to outbid his rival for the architecture contract at Baker Sporting Emporium.
It’s the 1967-68 school year. The Cold War forces the students to do atomic bomb drills, while the Vietnam War is tearing America apart. Holling’s most immediate concern are a pair of rats that have taken up residence within the walls of the classroom, and the looming vengeance of his classmates over a tray of spoiled creampuffs.
Things begin to change when Mrs. Baker assigns Holling to read Shakespeare’s plays with her. Assuming this is just another punishment, he quickly becomes so fascinated by Macbeth that quotations from the play begin to infuse his thoughts and his conversation. Soon he finds himself in the humiliating position of wearing tights and playing a fairy in a stage production of The Tempest. Meanwhile, he learns that Mrs. Baker is not what she seems to be.
These are only a few samples of the many events in Holling’s year, some sad, but most hilariously reminiscent of things that could happen only in a grade school environment. Schmidt’s witty narration peppers them all, making The Wednesday Wars a delight for both kids and adults. If you haven’t discovered Gary D. Schmidt, I urge you to add this and his other books to your personal library, no matter what your age.
Featured by Chevron Ross
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Weapons of Remorse The Seven-Day Resurrection The Samaritan’s Patient
