The Wednesday Wars
by Gary Schmidt
Holling Hoodhood knows his seventh grade teacher hates his guts. He knows it the first time she reads his name and gives him one of those looks. He knows she is trying to have him assassinated by a huge eighth grader. He knows she is trying to bore him to death by reading Shakespeare. He knows she is trying to embarrass him to death by announcing to the class that he is playing Ariel (a fairy) in the local Shakespeare troupe. Then again, there are a few things he learns along the way, too. Like teachers have lives outside of school, and people they care about and amazing pasts. Like even if your sister is an annoying brat you might just love her anyway. Like sometimes your heroes let you down and the ordinary person right next to you is there to take his place. Seventh grade isn’t easy, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. And with as many death threats as Holling receives during the year, you just know he is a much stronger person at the end.
