The Wednesday Wars: November–December

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 2336 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. censor
    subject to deletion on political or moral grounds
    It’s got to be censored all over the place. I figured that she hadn’t read it herself, otherwise she would never have let me at it.
  2. devious
    characterized by insincerity or deceit
    Whatever she was plotting, it was a whole lot more devious than I had given her credit for.
  3. coagulate
    change from a liquid to a thickened or solid state
    “You’ve coagulated, Mr. Hoodhood,” Mrs. Baker said, which I think is a Caliban curse that I missed.
  4. rhetorical
    relating to using language effectively
    “Repetition is not always a rhetorical virtue,” said Mrs. Baker.
  5. reconnaissance
    the act of scouting, especially to gain information
    He had died at night, on a reconnaissance mission.
  6. vandal
    someone who willfully destroys or defaces property
    Two nights after that, the Home Town Chronicle showed a different picture — the home of the Catholic Relief Agency where Mai Thi lived, which had been attacked by unknown vandals.
  7. seclusion
    the quality of being removed from the presence of others
    The letter, Mr. Guareschi told us, was written from Connecticut, where Mrs. Sidman was taking “a retreat in seclusion.”
  8. advent
    arrival that has been awaited
    And it was Mrs. Baker who announced his advent.
    “I suppose it will be of some interest to some of you,” she said, “that Mickey Mantle is coming to town next week.”
  9. vocation
    the particular occupation for which you are trained
    “My brother-in-law,” said Mrs. Baker loudly, “has developed strong ties to the Yankee organization, and he has arranged for Mickey Mantle to come to the Baker Sporting Emporium. I am told that in addition to strutting around swinging baseball bats as if it were a worthy vocation, he will sign baseballs for anyone willing to bring one to him.”
  10. obliterate
    make indistinct or invisible by obscuring or concealing
    This is the part where, if we lived in a just world, some natural disaster would occur right then, or maybe an atomic bomb attack to obliterate the news of the Long Island Shakespeare Company’s Holiday Extravaganza and so save me from my undeserved humiliation.
  11. usurp
    seize and take control without authority
    “Who does the warrior fight?”
    “The rebels who usurped Prospero’s kingdom and who want to murder him and his daughter.”
  12. revel
    unrestrained merrymaking
    “Our revels now are ended,” Prospero had said.
  13. careen
    move at high speed and in an uncontrolled way
    I careened back behind the stage and around to the men’s dressing room.
  14. millennium
    a span of 1000 years
    “You waiting for another cream puff?” she said to me. “Don’t count on it this millennium.”
  15. supple
    capable of moving or bending freely
    And then she reached in again and took out three mitts. Their leathery smell filled the room. She handed them to us. The leather was soft and supple.
Created on Wed Aug 16 14:47:48 EDT 2017 (updated Wed Aug 06 10:55:49 EDT 2025)

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