Schmidt, Gary.
WEDNESDAY WARS
New York : Clarion Books, 2007
IL 5-8, RL 5.6
ISBN 0618724834

(2 booktalks)

Life during the 1960s were a bit different than we are used to now.  On Wednesday afternoons, while his Catholic and Jewish schoolmates leave school to attend religious classes, Holling Hoodhood, the only Presbyterian in his seventh grade, is alone in the classroom with his teacher, Mrs. Baker.  Holling is convinced that Mrs. Baker hates him.  After all, if it wasn't for him, Mrs. Baker would have the afternoon to herself.  But she is stuck with the only kid with nowhere to go.  To fill their Wednesday afternoons, Mrs. Baker has Holling read Shakespearean plays.  Much to Holling's surprise, he finds he really likes Shakespeare!  And he looks forward to their Wednesday afternoon discussions.  But he still thinks Mrs. Baker hates him.

Booktalk #2

Seventh grade is starting out rough for Holling Hoodhood. He’s having some trouble with the class bully. His friend has moved away, leaving him the only kid who does not go out for religious education on Wednesdays. He’s left in the classroom with Mrs. Baker who thinks it would be a wonderful idea for the two of them to explore the works of Shakespeare….Holling has his reservations. But as the year progresses and Holling begins to know and understand both Shakespeare and Mrs. Baker, he begins to discover his own story. (Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award nominee, 2011)