The Wednesday Wars

Gary Schmidt’s middle grade novel, The Wednesday Wars, follows seventh grader Holling Hoodhood as he navigates the difficulties of junior high in the late 1960s. Published in 2007, Schmidt’s novel blends historical fiction with a coming-of-age theme, and was given the Newbery Medal in 2008. Other works by Schmidt include Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (2004), Okay for Now (2011), and The Labors of Hercules Beal (2023).

This guide refers to the Clarion Books 2009 reprint edition.

Plot Summary

Holling begins his seventh-grade school year at Camillo Junior High in Long Island, New York. From day one, Holling can sense that Mrs. Baker, his English teacher, hates him. She puts him to work on Wednesday afternoons when the rest of the class attends religious classes, and she eventually assigns Shakespearean plays for him to read. Throughout the school year, Holling learns valuable lessons through the lens of his Shakespeare reading as he navigates new experiences, school bullies, family life, and unlikely friendships, all amidst the tumultuous national events of 1967 and 1968.

The school year gets off to a rough start as Holling comes to school each day paranoid that Mrs. Baker will try to sabotage him. As much as Holling tries to stay on his best behavior, trouble inevitably finds him. Holling finds himself accidentally responsible for the chalk-covered cream puff disaster at the Wives of Vietnam Soldiers meeting, and he receives death threats from his classmates who claim he owes them all cream puffs. Thankfully, Holling escapes mostly unscathed. He provides cream puffs for the class by making a deal with the baker, Mr. Goldman, who needs a boy for the role of Ariel the fairy in his upcoming theater production of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Holling obliges and enjoys the part despite his embarrassment of his costume: yellow tights with feathers on the bottom.

Holling faces more embarrassment in the New Year when Doug Swieteck’s eighth-grade brother covers the halls with a newspaper photo of Holling flying through the air as Ariel, feathers and all. However, ridicule from his peers eventually turns to adoration when Holling saves his sister from getting hit by a school bus. Things continue to look up for Holling when his crush, Meryl Lee, agrees to go out with him for Valentine’s Day. They have a wonderful time despite Holling’s limited budget, so Holling is shocked when Meryl Lee betrays him by sharing his father’s architectural design idea with her own father, who is Holling’s father’s business competitor. With a little help from Mrs. Baker and Romeo and Juliet, Holling comes to forgive Meryl Lee and make things right with her. 

In the spring, Holling discovers a new talent: running. He makes the varsity cross-country team after getting motivation—the Big M—from being chased by the class pet rats, Sycorax and Caliban. Mrs. Baker gives him a few Wednesdays off of reading Shakespeare and coaches him in running instead, and Holling takes first place in his cross-country meet. As Mrs. Baker tries to hide her worry for her husband who is reported missing in action in Vietnam, she and Holling develop a friendship. She takes Holling to Opening Day at Yankee Stadium and shows him local buildings that are historically and architecturally significant. When Mrs. Baker gets word that her husband was found and is coming home, she is all smiles during the end-of-the-year class camping trip. As the school year ends, Holling looks toward the future; he acknowledges its uncertainty but thrills at the prospect of what his life might hold.