The Wednesday Wars

In this book that won the Newbery Honor, Gary D. Schmidt presents a compelling antihero. The Wednesday Wars is a brilliantly funny and gripping tale about the exploits and follies of a young lad on Long Island, New York during the 1967–1968 school year.

During Wednesday afternoons at Camillo Junior High, Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader, is required to spend time with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of the class attends religious instruction. He's certain Mrs. Baker doesn't like Holling. If not, why would she force him to study William Shakespeare plays after school? However, more pressing concerns for everyone are situations like Vietnam. Because the success of his company rests on Holling and his sister doing appropriately, his father expects them to behave well. But with so much on his plate, how can Holling avoid trouble? The same night Holling has to go to a performance in yellow tights, there's a bully requesting cream puffs, irate rats, and a baseball star collecting autographs! Holling finds Motivation—the Big M—in the most unlikely places as fate repeatedly eludes him and summons the bravery to accept his fate despite his own shortcomings.