User:Myotherselfisadragon/sandbox

Major Characters

 * Holling Hoodhood: The viewpoint character, who, as the only Presbyterian in his grade, is required to stay in class with his English teacher on Wednesday afternoons. Holling is convinced that Mrs. Baker hates his guts for this, but grows to enjoy studying Shakespeare with her.
 * Mrs. Baker: Holling's English teacher. She ran cross-country in the Olympics and coaches Holling in running as well as Shakespeare. Her husband, Tybalt Baker, is fighting overseas in Vietnam.
 * Meryl Lee Kowalski: A girl in Holling's class with a crush on him. She is also the daughter of Holling's father's architectural rival.
 * Doug Swieteck: A friend and classmate of Holling. He once created a list of 410 ways to make your teacher hate you.
 * Heather Hoodhood: Holling's sister. She considers herself a flower child and frequently tries to defy her father.
 * Mr. Hoodhood: Holling's father, who is never named in the novel. He runs an architectural firm that Holling is expected to take over one day.
 * Mr. Goldman: The owner of Goldman's Bakery. He also helps run a Shakespeare theater company in town, and trades Holling discounted cream puffs for acting in a play.
 * Mrs. Bigio: The cook at Holling's school. As her husband fights overseas in Vietnam, Mrs. Bigio interacts with Holling and his classmates in a variety of ways.
 * Mai Thi: A refugee from Vietnam who is in Holling's class. Mai Thi is often mistreated by others in the school because she is from Vietnam.
 * Mrs. Sidman: An administrator at Holling's school. After being pranked by Doug Swieteck, Mrs. Sidman often keeps her distance from the students.

Connections to Schmidt's Other Novels
Characters from The Wednesday Wars have appeared in Schmidt's other novels.

The novel Okay for Now features Holling's friend and classmate Doug Swieteck as the main character. Holling appears in the first chapter of the novel to say goodbye to Swieteck, who is about to move. Several times, the novel refers back to a scene from The Wednesday Wars, in which Doug Swieteck meets Joe Pepitone.

Lucas, Doug Swieteck's older brother, appears as Jack and Joseph's gym coach in Orbiting Jupiter, set many years later.

Just Like That, set to be released in January 2021, features Meryl Lee Kowalski as its main character.

Other Adaptations
At Calvin University in Michigan, The Wednesday Wars was adapted into a play directed by Kirsten Kelly and performed by the Calvin Theatre Company. Gary D. Schmidt, as a teacher at the university, consulted on the play's creation.

Wednesday Wars Bibliography

 * https://calvin.edu/directory/people/gary-schmidt
 * https://journals.ala.org/index.php/cal/article/view/6898/9284
 * https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/the-wednesday-wars?utm_expid=.RCp3TD4oT6qWuBfx5635Eg.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
 * https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/books/review/Stone-t.html
 * https://www.biloxischools.net/cms/lib07/MS01910473/Centricity/Domain/637/WW%20Copy%20of%20book.pdf