The Wednesday Wars

The Wednesday Wars
By Gary D. Schmidt

 This book is really hilarious--even the main character's name made me laugh on the first page:  Holling Hoodhood.  His year in 7th grade in 1967 is filled with a combination of funny and serious incidents, like having to stay in with his teacher and read Shakespeare, find enough money to buy cream puffs for the class bully, wear embarassing yellow tights in a community play, and chase down escaped rats in his school.
There are also more serious parts of the story, like how Holling's father is only concerned with making money, his teacher's husband has been shot down in a helicopter in Vietnam during the war, and one of his classmates experiences racism by a teacher at school.
Holling manages to survive it all, and come out a wiser, stronger person.