The Wednesday Wars Review Part 2

While I still don't absolutely love this book, I am definitely enjoying the story line! There's so many things going on in the story which I like and dislike about the book. On one hand it has so much going on (so much dialogue) that I have a hard time keeping things straight, but on the other hand it has so many warm, heartfelt moments that are so good for young adults to read. Oh, and Mrs. Baker? She grows on you. Throughout the second half of the book quite a bit happens to Holling and some of my favorite moments revolved around Holling's family life or Mrs. Baker. 

In February, Holling is afraid of looking cheap since he has no money but desperately wants to ask Meryl Lee out for Valentine's Day. Sassy Merly Lee who's been in love with Holling since the third grade. I'm about to type an entire page worth of words but it's one of my absolute favorite scenes because I think that many students who have read Romeo and Juliet have felt the same way as Holling. 

"Let me tell you, these two wouldn't make it very far in Camillo Junior High. Never mind that Romeo wears tights - at least according to the pictures - but he just isn't very smart. And Juliet isn't too strong in that department, either. I mean, a potion to almost kill you? She drinks a potion to almost kill you? Who would drink a potion to almost kill you? Then Romeo goes ahead and drinks a potion that will kill you because he can't figure out that she's only had a potion that almost kills you? And then Juliet, who at least is smart enough to figure out that Romeo really is dead, makes sure that she uses a knife this time, which is not almost going to kill you, but really will kill you? Doesn't this sound like something that two people who can't find their way around the block would gt themselves into? Of course it does." I found this paragraph to be so funny! I love Shakespeare but I, and I think many readers, can relate to thinking similarly if they've read Romeo and Juliet. And I think that Gary Schmidt was smart to use italics throughout this paragraph to highlight "almost" and "will" because it adds character and gives the writing an expressive voice. 

Throughout the next few months, Holling's sister runs away to California to "find herself" after constant fighting with their dad over politics, Mrs. Baker's husband goes missing in action, and Holling discovers that he's a talented runner. As the book progresses, Mrs. Baker begins to seem like a normal person with her own struggles and feelings. Not just a cold-hearted witch who hates children. She ends up coaching Holling on Wednesdays and he finds out that she was a Olympian in track and field. So that's handy! She takes a few of the boys to opening day at Yankee stadium, takes the kids on a camping trip, and even ditches bomb drills to take Holling on a field trip to appreciate some of the city's famous architecture, She does so much for Holling and you can see him growing. I love when Holling's father demands for Holling to decide where he's headed and Holling bravely stands up for himself and happily says that he doesn't know. Such an important lesson for kids! You don't have to know where you are going and have all of the answers right away! They will come over time.

"Eleven days later, on Wednesday, Lieutenant Tybalt Baker came home...I guess you want to know what Mrs. Baker did when Lieutenant Baker came out of the plane. And I guess you want to know what Lieutenant Baker did when he saw Mrs. Baker on the tarmac. But toads, beetles, bats. If you can't figure that out for yourself, then a southwest blow on ye and blister you all o'er. Because let me tell you, it was a happy ending." 

Such a good ending! Although kinda weird that all of her students were there to see Mrs. Baker and her husband reunited. But everyone was happy in the end of the book, people had grown as individuals, and it was summertime! I enjoyed how Holling began to grow as he read and learned about some of the big themes in Shakespeare's work. Mrs. Baker did so much to show Holling how much was out in the world and how to become a good person.

This book was jam packed full of so many funny moments that you can't help but love them all. I could go on and on with all of the quotes that I loved, but here are a few that made me laugh inside or think deeply. 

"The light made the snowballs look yellow. Or at least I hoped that was the cause."

"I almost cried. But I didn't, because if you're in seventh grade and you cry while wearing a blue floral cape and yellow tights with white feathers on the butt, you just have to curl up and die somewhere in a dark alley."

"I saw my town as if I had just arrived. It was as if I was waking up. You see houses and buildings every day, and you walk by them on your way to something else, and you hardly see. You hardly notice they're even there, mostly because there's something else going on right in front of your face. But when the town itself becomes the thing that is going on right in front of your face, it all changes, and you're not just looking at a house, but at what's happened in that house before you were born."

"When a girl holds a rose up to you, you run better, let me tell you."

"A comedy isn't about being funny...a comedy is about characters who dare to know that they may choose a happy ending after all."

One of my favorite extension activities based on the book is to have small groups of students take different months from the book. Each group would have to prepare a chart, slideshow, or some sort of presentation which includes all of the main events that occurred during that month. I think this would help students recall scenes that they might have forgotten about and also help them visualize all of the main events throughout the book. Shakespeare was a big part of Holling's journey and it would also be interesting to see groups take different works of Shakespeare that Holling read and then create a visual or presentation explaining what Holling learned from that play. Friendship and finding yourself were two of the biggest themes in this book which I'm not sure how to create a lesson around finding yourself so it would be interesting to hear the opinions of others!