The Wednesday Wars: January–February

by Gary D. Schmidt
While the Vietnam War roils America, seventh grader Holling Hoodhood contends with Shakespeare, a demanding father, a school bully, and more. Learn these words from Schmidt's funny and heartwarming coming-of-age story.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: September–October, November–December, January–February, March–April, May–June

Here are links to our lists for other works by Gary D. Schmidt: Orbiting Jupiter, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
15 words 1922 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. heath
    uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation
    But as it was, the tattered gray clouds hung even lower, and the mist was leaking out of them again, and the town looked more like the kind of foul heath where Macbeth’s Three Weird Sisters lived.
  2. traction
    the friction between a body and a surface on which it moves
    Which I’m sure that Mr. Guareschi was glad for, since on the other side of the street a Home Town Chronicle photographer was taking pictures of the buses turning onto the ice, finding a little traction for a moment, and then losing it and sliding sideways, flinging down snow from their yellow roofs.
  3. platoon
    a military unit that is a subdivision of a company
    They stood in line like a platoon, and each one lifted up his left arm and pointed at me.
  4. intersection
    a junction where one street or road crosses another
    In the next second, the school bus gunned its ancient engine and then started to slide across the intersection — slide sideways, that is, and through the red light; I watched as the bus’s back end went by me, moving in a couple of different directions.
  5. diagnostic
    concerned with identifying the nature or cause of something
    “Perhaps a diagnostic hip x-ray would be in order.”
  6. shard
    a broken piece of a brittle artifact
    ...the entire newly plastered ceiling fell, smashing down the top of the baby grand piano, ripping the plastic seat cushions, flattening the fake tropical flowers, tearing the gleaming mirror from the wall, and spreading its glittering shards onto the floor, where they mixed with the dank, wet plaster that immediately began to settle into the carpet to stain it forever.
  7. prosperous
    very lively and profitable
    But he made it through without any hollering and swearing, and everyone clapped when he talked about the growing business opportunities of the town, and how he was glad to be a part of it all, and how someday he hoped to leave a thriving and prosperous business in a thriving and prosperous town to his son to carry on the good name of Hoodhood and Associates.
  8. restitution
    a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury
    They had better be at the house first thing in the morning, ready to fix the ceiling permanently and to offer restitution for the property damage their carelessness had caused.
  9. tragic
    very sad, especially involving grief or death or destruction
    “Didn’t you find it tragic and beautiful and lovely?” she asked me when I told her I’d finished reading it.
  10. arrogant
    having or showing feelings of unwarranted importance
    If my father was sounding more arrogant than usual, it’s because he had brought home a scale model of his design for the new junior high school, and he figured it was a winner.
  11. procedural
    of or relating to processes
    There was a whole lot of Preliminary Agenda stuff, and Old Business, and procedural decisions, and all that.
  12. clarify
    make clear and comprehensible
    This may take slightly longer than the allotted time, but I’m sure that the Chamber of Commerce Businessman of 1967 won’t begrudge Kowalski and Associates a few extra minutes in order to clarify the proposal, and to promote the general business atmosphere of the town.
  13. begrudge
    be envious of or feel annoyance toward
    But the back of his neck grew as red as boiling sin, and I knew he did begrudge the extra time. He begrudged it a whole lot.
  14. contemporary
    belonging to the present time
    Just as our children need to be reminded of our great traditions, so, too, do they need to enjoy the advantages of contemporary technology.
  15. innovative
    introducing new ideas or creative methods
    I think you’ll find the new interior design both modern and innovative, a perfect blend of where we have been and where we are going as a nation.
Created on Wed Aug 16 13:40:59 EDT 2017 (updated Wed Aug 06 11:16:42 EDT 2025)

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