Wednesday Wars Part 2

I have always loved reading. You can gain so much from reading. You can get so invested in the characters that sometimes you might forget they are in a book. There are some books that I never want to put down and would pick up to read over again. But sometimes you find a book that does not hold your interest like others.

At first I was into Wednesday Wars, but as the book went on I wanted something else to happen. Holling at first was a character that I wanted to see what happened next to him. He was always in these weird situations like the play or the rats getting out of the cage. But somewhere along the way I lost interest in Holling. I gain more interest in Mrs. Baker and we were only given so much information on Mrs. Baker. I wanted to know her Olympic experience, and about her husband. I also wanted to know more about what was going on in history around Holling. They talked about the presidency and Martin Luther King Jr., but Holling never really talked about what he thought of everything, just what his sister thought. I also became mad at the dad, for not helping his daughter when she ran away and then wanted to come back home. I don’t know what I was looking for in this book, but it never came, whatever it was. At the end of the book Holling wanted a Barometz like his friend because it was a moment to become a man. I wanted to have a bigger moment, something that was memorable or words that I could come to over and over again. There were moments in this book that were great, but most of it could be easily forgotten.

With all that said I think that it is important that students know it is okay to not like all books. The thing that I really think you need to emphasize is that there should be a reason not just “because I didn’t”. I would still have my students read to book to see if there was something they did like about the book. I also think someone who does not like the book can provide great feedback and discussion; they could provide a different point of view. I do have to say though that I did like they added in different parts of history. These book leads well in to social studies. These parts of history in the book can lead to teaching about the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King Jr. or Kennedy. Ask the students what they might know about any parts of history they talk about. I would even have student’s choice different historical parts from the book, and do a report on it. You can ask “What are the most significant events of the Vietnam War?” “What was Martin Luther King Jr. marching to Washington for?” The questions could go on and on.