The Wednesday Wars

In this Newbery Honor-winning novel by Gary D. Schmidt, seventh grader Holling Hoodhood grapples with the challenges of adolescence amid an unyielding home life and school pressures. Believing his teacher, Mrs. Baker, dislikes him, Holling navigates Shakespeare's intricate plays while confronting his father's obsession with business and the impact of the Vietnam War. As he grows to appreciate both Mrs. Baker and Shakespeare, he finds strength in loyalty to his sister and learns to stand up for himself, all set against the backdrop of suburban Long Island in the late 1960s.