The Wednesday Wars
by Gary Schmidt

Holling's 7th grade teacher is out to get him. He's sure of it. Why else would she make him read Shakespeare. He has better things to worry about, like the Vietnam War for starters, and the family business.

In Wednesday Wars, Schmidt has woven together the societal upheavel of the 1960 and the internal upheaval of a young boy coming of age, then added a little Shakespeare into the mix as well.  In a starred review, Booklist said, "Schmidt...makes the implausible believable and the everyday momentous ...a gentle, hopeful, moving story."

This book won a number of prestigious children's book awards, including a Newbery Honor, the American Library Association Notable Book List, and the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults List.