The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

This was one of those books that I felt like was a cheat because it was both about a teacher and from the students perspective. I love books like this because they appeal to me as a teacher but also as a reader of young adult fiction that will apply to my students' lives.

One of the main things that I loved about this book was that it dealt with a war that was going on in Vietnam at the time, and it could be used in present day to refer to the war in Iraq. I feel that students who have a parent or relative overseas have a lot to deal with emotionally, and it isn't always what they need to discuss the actual war in Iraq and Afghanistan. By reading a book about another war in another time, students can make connections to themselves and their troubles through the book. This would both encourage the process of making self connections with ALL books but also keep them engaged.

This book was also full of some of the most spectacular quotes I have ever seen in a young adult novel. Some of my favorite quotes were quotes that can be plugged in for any like experiences, like when the main character Holling Hoodhood meets his hero Micky Mantle, who is mean to him...

"When gods die, they die hard. It's not like they fade away, or grow old, or fall asleep. They die in fire and pain, and when they come out of you, they leave your guts burned. It hurts more than anything you can talk about. And maybe worst of all is, you're not sure if there will ever be another god to fill their place. Or if you'd ever want another god to fill their place. You don't want the fire to go out inside you twice."

Another quote is describing a character in the book's reaction when they find out that their loved one who was in Vietnam (and had been missing in action for months) was alive after all...

"Think of the sound you make when you let go after holding your breath for a very, very long time. Think of the gladdest sound you know: the sound of dawn on the first day of spring break, the sound of a bottle of Coke opening, the sound of a crowd cheering in your ears because you're coming down to the last part of a race--and you're ahead. Think of the sound of water over stones in a cold stream, and the sound of wind through green trees on a late May afternoon in Central Park. Think of the sound of a bus coming into the station carrying someone you love.
Then put all those together."

I would definitely recommend this book to any student, and I would probably even teach it. This book would be amazing to read before reading Shakespeare's The Tempest and Hamlet, as the main character reads those plays and discusses them throughout the book, comparing them to his life.