The Wednesday Wars

September

Reading Check

1. He rigged the teachers’ water fountain to spray mango red hair dye into a teacher’s face. It stained her skin for days. (September)

2. Half go to Hebrew school and half go to Catechism at the Catholic church. (September)

Short Answer

1. He imagines them all behaving like characters in Treasure Island. (September)

2. She must spend Wednesdays with Holling instead of having a free period, and someone in her family was recently deployed to the war in Vietnam. (September)

October

Reading Check

1. Cleaning the classroom, dusting erasers, wiping the board (October)

2. Holling was cleaning erasers outside on a windy day. The chalk dust wafted through the open windows where the cream puffs had been set to cool. (October)

Short Answer

1. They believe he got to eat a cream puff as a special treat. They threaten to kill him if he does not get them all cream puffs of their own. (October)

2. No. Mrs. Baker calls Hollings not eating one “a wise choice.” At the meeting, Mrs. Bigio insisted the powdered sugar she used must have gone bad and the women believed her, even though they won’t be using her services again. Students might suspect that Mrs. Baker suspects Holling might know or have had something to do with what happened. She offers him a cream puff in exchange for a chore. When he turns it down, she responds with a sarcastic, “Imagine that.” (October)

3. Lt. Tybalt Baker is Mrs. Baker’s husband. Students should know this based on Mrs. Baker’s attending the Wives of Vietnam Soldiers meeting. (October)

November

Reading Check

1. Standing shirtless in front of the mirror (November)

2. He agrees to take part in a Shakespeare play with the local theater. (November)

3. The escaped rats ate them. (November)

4. Her husband died fighting in Vietnam. (November)

Short Answer

1. They get their names from two characters in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. (November)

2. There is a famous passage that he and Mrs. Baker often reference that talks about the virtue of mercy or forgiveness. As Holling observes the November events, he notices that not everyone practices mercy, sometimes for good reasons and sometimes not. He realizes that sometimes life is not merciful even to the best of people. This complicates his view of life. (November)

3. Racial hatred runs high during the war and among some of the people living in Holling’s town. This supports Holling’s understanding of Schmidt’s message that innocent people (like refugee Mai Thi) can be caught in the crossfire if mercy is withheld. (November)

December

Reading Check

1. A bus driver gives him a free ride (and a baseball). (December)

2. Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Bigio, Danny Hupfer and his parents, Mai Thi, and Meryl Lee (December)

3. They arrange for Holling and his friends to play catch with other Yankees players. They all get new balls, mitts, caps, and even a jacket from the players. (December)

Short Answer

1. Mrs. Baker’s husband is away fighting in a dangerous war. Mrs. Bigio’s husband has just been killed in that same war. (December)

2. Holling’s performance was moving and inspirational to Danny, who gained a new respect for Holling. Instead of being curious or at least respectful, Mickey Mantle puts Holling down and refuses to sign his ball. Danny and Holling lose all remaining respect for their hero. (December)

3. They stay home to watch Bing Crosby’s Christmas special instead; the same special airs every year. (December)

January

Reading Check

1. Doug Swieteck’s brother (January)

2. He hits Doug Swieteck’s brother in the face with a snowball. (January)

3. He gets hit by a bus on an icy day while trying to save his sister. (January)

Short Answer

1. He says she doesn’t have anything to worry about. It was insensitive because she is worried about her husband fighting in Vietnam. (January)

2. Mai Thi is a visual reminder of the war in Vietnam and she reminds Mrs. Bigio why her husband is dead. Mrs. Bigio resents Mai Thi. (January)

February

Reading Check

1. Romeo and Juliet (February)

2. She gives him tickets to see Romeo and Juliet at the local theater. (February)

3. Her husband, Lt. Baker, is missing in action. (February)

Short Answer

1. Student answers can vary. Holling could believe Meryl was innocent. If her father was as greedy as Holling’s father, Holling could assume that Meryl Lee didn’t have anything to do with it. Meryl was also upset with her father for losing her friendship with Holling. It made him realize he cares for her. (February)

2. Student answers can vary. His daughter may have convinced him to withdraw his bid. He could have also seen how his actions hurt Meryl Lee and withdrawn his bid. He might have realized he did not have the passion or the skill to carry out the job, which would expose him as a fraud. (February)

March

Reading Check

1. He kept acting out the stabbing scenes. (March)

2. She won a silver medal for the 4x100m relay at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. (March)

3. Shreds of paper from all over the school, the rat’s nests (March)

Short Answer

1. He does it to get out of the house. His father is angry about Holling’s sister campaigning for Robert Kennedy, and Holling is caught in the crossfire. (March)

2. Student answers can vary. He might think she is naïve. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., were considered radicals in the 1960s. Their ideas put them and their associates in danger, so he may have been worried about her. (March)

April

Reading Check

1. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, assassination (April)

2. The world feels unsafe. Columbia is not holding classes because it is “striking against the war and against racism,” which does not impress Holling’s father. (April)

3. Holling wins (April)

Short Answer

1. Eighth graders pushed Danny Hupfer to the ground and bloodied his knees during the junior varsity race. (April)

2. Awe and admiration (April)

May

Reading Check

1. She goes to California with Chit but only makes it to Minneapolis. (May)

2. Everyone talks too much. The play has too many speeches and they all bore him. (May)

3. She takes him on a field trip to observe “points of local architectural interest.” They are all historical places. (May)

Short Answer

1. She spills the apple cider that’s been fermenting in the coat room since December and complains about the smell. (May)

2. Elated, relieved, jubilant, and happy are all possible answers. (May)

3. Triumphant, complete, mature, and jubilant are all possible answers. (May)

June

Reading Check

1. Mrs. Bigio. She brings utensils, bug spray, and ingredients for a Vietnamese beef stew. (June)

2. Standing in a river at dawn (June)

3. Swimming and diving in a pool of water off the river (June)

Short Answer

1. Student answers can vary, as this question calls for inferencing. Students should be able to provide textual support for any answer.

2. Student answers can vary, as this question calls for inferencing. Students should be able to provide textual support for any answer.

3. Holling has finally stood up to his father. (June)