September Grades 5-6 Book Club: The Wednesday Wars

For September's Book Club, we read The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt. Ian, Logan and Mark were present. This is what we discussed.


1. Why is Holling convinced Mrs. Baker hates him?

-Because she's always giving him bad looks
-She's gives him the stink eye.



2. Mrs. Baker says that Shakespeare "is never boring to the true soul." What does she mean by that remark...what is a "true soul"?

-Someone who is kind and genuine.
-Lying was prohibited in Shakespeare's time.
-A pure soul.
-Happy.
-Slightly imperfect because no one is perfect.



3. What is it about Shakespeare that Holling comes to appreciate?


-Holling sees relations between his own life and things that happen in the books/plays
-He might feel like he's similar to Shakespeare



4. How do the Shakespearean plays Holling reads reflect the events in his life?

-In Hamlet, the Danish prince was trying to find himself. Holling's sister intended to go to California to find herself but only made it to Minneapolis.



5. What do you think about Holling's parents? What kind of parents are they? What is uppermost in Mr. Hoodhood's life?

-Mr. Hoodhood expects the best of his children.
-He's always got to get the best of everything.
-He is planning out Holling's future without letting Holling have any say
-The dad doesn't want Heather to go to college.



6. Does the author do a good job of describing the problems faced by seventh graders—friendship, bullying, parents, siblings, teacher expectations?

-That's the basic version of realistic fiction for middle school books that everyone likes
-At the end of the story, everything shows out in a specific way. Everyone ends up getting along.
-With most good books, the end is the only thing that makes complete sense and brings everyone together.



7. What episodes did you find especially funny? The rats episode, the yellow tights, the cream puffs?

-My favorite part was with the track.
-One of the funny parts is the rats and the yellow tights.



8. Talk about the line, "when the gods die, they die hard." What symbolic "gods" die for Holling?

-Mickey Mantle
-His father
-His mom might be a little disappointing



9. In what way does Holling grow by the end of the book? What does he learn...how does he change?

-Don't be friends with Mickey Mantle
-Holling grows by knowing what Shakespeare meant by all of his plays. What it means to be a person and what happens in everyone's lives. He understands friendship. 
-He understands what it is to have a life and to be a human being.



10. Mrs. Baker advises Holling to "Learn everything you can—everything. And then use all that you have learned to be a wise and good man." Does, or will, Holling live up to that advice?

-Maybe
-I think he does because he learns all of the lessons from Shakespeare
-He's learning what true life is about


-4 1/2
-5
-3 1/2



For October's Book Club, we will be reading Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling: 

New friends and a mystery help Aden, thirteen, adjust to middle school and life at a dying western theme park in a new state, where her being born armless presents many challenges. Please be sure to pick up your copy and register for the Club at the Circulation Desk!

October Grades 5-6 Book Suggestions

Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Jenn Bigelow

Melly only joined the school band because her best friend, Olivia, begged her to. But to her surprise, quiet Melly loves playing the drums. It’s the only time she doesn’t feel like a mouse. Now she and Olivia are about to spend the next two weeks at Camp Rockaway, jamming under the stars in the Michigan woods.

But this summer brings a lot of big changes for Melly: her parents split up, her best friend ditches her, and Melly finds herself unexpectedly falling for another girl at camp. To top it all off, Melly’s not sure she has what it takes to be a real rock n’ roll drummer. Will she be able to make music from all the noise in her heart?

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again.

Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven’s about to discover she can do it all . . . even without arms.

Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood

In the tradition of The War That Saved My Life and Stella By Starlight, this poignant novel based on true events tells the story of a boys harrowing experience on a lifeboat after surviving a torpedo attack during World War II.

With Nazis bombing London every night, it’s time for thirteen-year-old Ken to escape. He suspects his stepmother is glad to see him go, but his dad says he’s one of the lucky ones—one of ninety boys and girls to ship out aboard the SS City of Benares to safety in Canada.

Life aboard the luxury ship is grand—nine-course meals, new friends, and a life far from the bombs, rations, and his stepmum’s glare. And after five days at sea, the ship’s officers announce that they’re out of danger.

They’re wrong.

Late that night, an explosion hurls Ken from his bunk. They’ve been hit. Torpedoed! The Benares is sinking fast. Terrified, Ken scrambles aboard Lifeboat 12 with five other boys. Will they get away? Will they survive?