Reflection questions for Newberry Book

Has something similar happened to me?
The theme of self discovery is a common one for all people, especially adolescents. The main character in Wednesday Wars is able to build relationships he thought impossible in the story's beginning and come to accept the difficulties, as well as find meaning in his familial relationships. This is a walk we all take, some longer, some shorter than others. But in taking the walk, we define ourselves. This certainly is true in this novel.

Many books deal with this same issue. I like the way Gary Schmidt handles it with a mix of humor, Shakespeare, and seriousness against the historical backdrop of the 60's and Vietnam War.

A more global theme that also in present is the idea of social and religious and ethnic groups. All are dealt with in the this story - the good students and the delinquents, Catholics, Jews, and Protestants, and Americans and Vietnamese. This story illuminates the differences and even some of the conflicts between these groups, but in the end, all are making peace, reaching out to accept and include each other.

language highlights:

The Shakespeare brings out of lot of new lingo for the boy and he tries it out in his normal life, such as calling people "pied ninnies" and other curses that he borrows from Shakespeare.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I enjoyed the descriptions of seasons - this story takes place over one school year. The author describes the seasons throughout. here is one example:
The leaves up in the hills still had that fresh color they have when they're just a couple of weeks old, and they give off that green smell that mixes so well with sunshine in June.
I can't seem find the best example. The writing is very good, always referring to pet names of people and places from the characters perspective which leaves the reader feeling very embedded in the setting.