Holling Hoodhood has many things on his mind. The U.S. is at war with Vietnam. His older sister has painted a flower on her face. His father is trying to run the town’s other architect out of business. And Holling’s teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. You see, every Wednesday after lunch, half of the kids in Holling’s 7th grade class go to the Temple Beth-El for Hebrew School. The other half goes to St. Adelbert’s for Catechism. Holling, the lone Presbyterian, is the only student keeping Mrs. Baker from an afternoon to herself. To avenge her privacy, Mrs. Baker decides to bore Holling to death by reading Shakespeare with him, but the joke’s on her- Holling actually likes Shakespeare! It may help him secure the heart of Meryl Lee Kowalski, get Doug Swieteck’s older brother off his back, and run faster with the cross country team. Or, it may help him right into a pair of yellow tights with feathers on the behind. But maybe, just maybe, it will help him tell his father how he feels.
This laugh-out-loud novel from Gary Schmidt (author of Newbery Honor book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy) will reel in readers with Holling’s wry yet innocent narration. Schmidt, a professor of English, grew up in Long Island just like Holling.
This book is one of 10 from the Virginia Readers Choice selection.
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