Clarion The Wednesday Wars

I started this book on January 1st, and as I had the day off, finished it that evening. The following day I made a big deal out of this being the best book I had read this year. Now it is late March and I am reviewing it here, and it still is the best book I read this year. This story was frequently hilarious, and often touching. The characters were wonderful, colourful, amusing and just so real.The book is essentially a coming of age tale, set against the back drop of an America at war in Vietnam and in the grip of cold war paranoia. Holling Hoodhood is the only Presbyterian child in a class of Catholics and Jews, and thus the only one who does not go off to one kind of religious instruction or another on a Wednesday afternoon. This leads to some quality time with a teacher who, too start with at least, he is quite sure hates him - and who presumably resents the necessity to look after a class of one.The way the author writes this is just excellent. I could not put the book down. At times I wanted to almost cry with laughter and other times I was deeply moved by this first rate story, which really deserves to be much more widely known.Called a young adult book, this is a story adults will love too.

This a great book that is both well written and fun. It makes the study of literature fun, as well as talking about how war effects all areas of life.

Good book

I found this book very entertaining. I felt I was right there with the main character . I found this book to be well written and held my attention from start to finish.

This is a coming of age story as grade 7 student, Holling Hoodhood, struggles to figure out who he is. There are hilarious moments as he deals with his relationships at school and at home which are offset by more serious issues of bullying, racism and the 60’s politics. I loved the references to Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies. Holling indeed learns, “To thine own self be true.”