Applying School Skills in Life: The Message of The Wednesday Wars Anonymous 8th Grade

In the book the Wednesday Wars, Holling Hoodhood is a seventh grader at Camillo Junior High in suburban Long Island in the 1967-1968 school year, with the entire book set in the backdrop of the Vietnam War. Holling's teacher is Mrs. Baker, whose husband is in Vietnam; Mrs. Baker is teaching Holling whilst Mr. Baker is fighting for him. Holling learns much from Mrs. Baker in many ways, from social advice to Shakespeare. In the book the Wednesday Wars, the conflict between Holling and Mrs. Baker teaches him life lessons that he uses to overcome boundaries later in the book. Holling's conflict with Mrs. Baker causes him to learn lessons about his friends and family that he uses later in the book.

As one of her most important insights, Mrs. Baker conveys to Holling the profound importance of family. Holling uses this lesson later in the book when his sister is stranded and she calls him from Minneapolis. He chooses to do everything in his power to help her, against his father's wishes, showing his extreme value of family, as taught to him by Mrs. Baker. This lesson is reinforced by Mrs. Baker when Holling sees the deep emotional ties and the pain of separation between Mrs. Baker and her husband, Lt. Tybalt Baker, who is serving in...