The Wednesday Wars

by

Gary Schmidt

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Wednesday Wars makes teaching easy.

Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister) Character Analysis

For most of the novel, Holling refers to his sister only as "my sister." She's sixteen years old and is constantly fighting with Holling and Holling's dad. She thinks Holling is gutless and naïve, and she regularly fights with her conservative father over her liberal politics. She desperately wants to be a flower child and protest the Vietnam War and other injustices at home, which her father laughs at and deems stupid. When she joins presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy’s campaign, her father is incensed and tries to employ her as his secretary instead. He also tries to forbid her from applying to Columbia University. She eventually runs away with her boyfriend, Chit, to California to "find herself." During the few weeks she's gone, Holling realizes he truly misses her and wants her to be happy. Holling wires her money for a bus ticket when she calls home, alone and broke, from Minneapolis. Holling’s spiteful father and fearful mother both refuse to help Heather, so Holling is forced to pick her up from the bus station in New York himself. After this, Holling begins referring to Heather by name, and the two become closer.

Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister) Quotes in The Wednesday Wars

The The Wednesday Wars quotes below are all either spoken by Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister) or refer to Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Coming of Age Theme Icon
).
January Quotes

"It's not a ridiculous idea because of why Dad thinks it's a ridiculous idea. It's a ridiculous idea because it's military school, and because the next stop after military school is Saigon."

"So?"

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister) (speaker), Holling's Dad
Page Number: 108
Explanation and Analysis:
February Quotes

[…] right then a whole series of low chords sounded from the piano in the Perfect Living Room below us, followed by a roar and crash as the entire newly plastered ceiling fell, smashing down on 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.

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Holling's Dad, Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister), Holling's Mother
Related Symbols: The Perfect House
Page Number: 131
Explanation and Analysis:
March Quotes

You know things are bad when the United States Marine Corps is using stethoscopes and divining rods.

Still, the White House announced that the enemy offensive was running out of steam, that casualties at Khesanh were light, that we would never give up the marine base there.

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Holling's Dad, Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister)
Page Number: 156
Explanation and Analysis:

I was glad he was running for president.

And so maybe, after all, I had done something to make my father mad. Just not out loud.

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Holling's Dad, Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister)
Page Number: 166
Explanation and Analysis:
April Quotes

"The whole world is going crazy," my father said, "and no place is crazier than college. You'll stay at your job and be safe."

Related Characters: Holling's Dad (speaker), Holling Hoodhood, Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister)
Page Number: 201
Explanation and Analysis:
May Quotes

For supper, my mother set only three places. She did not cook lima beans. She did not say anything while my father swore up and down […] Didn't she realize that this didn't help his business reputation or his chances for the Chamber of Commerce Businessman of 1968, which that creep Kowalski was trying to steal from him?

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Holling's Dad, Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister), Holling's Mother
Page Number: 214
Explanation and Analysis:

That's when I knew for the first time that I really did love my sister. But I didn't know if I wanted more for her to come back or for her to find whatever it was that she was trying to find.

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister)
Page Number: 226
Explanation and Analysis:
June Quotes

"You think that's how you become a man, by chanting a few prayers?"

"You think you become a man by getting a job as an architect?"

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Holling's Dad (speaker), Danny Hupfer, Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister), Holling's Mother
Page Number: 253
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Wednesday Wars LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Wednesday Wars PDF

Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister) Quotes in The Wednesday Wars

The The Wednesday Wars quotes below are all either spoken by Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister) or refer to Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Coming of Age Theme Icon
).
January Quotes

"It's not a ridiculous idea because of why Dad thinks it's a ridiculous idea. It's a ridiculous idea because it's military school, and because the next stop after military school is Saigon."

"So?"

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister) (speaker), Holling's Dad
Page Number: 108
Explanation and Analysis:
February Quotes

[…] right then a whole series of low chords sounded from the piano in the Perfect Living Room below us, followed by a roar and crash as the entire newly plastered ceiling fell, smashing down on 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.

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Holling's Dad, Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister), Holling's Mother
Related Symbols: The Perfect House
Page Number: 131
Explanation and Analysis:
March Quotes

You know things are bad when the United States Marine Corps is using stethoscopes and divining rods.

Still, the White House announced that the enemy offensive was running out of steam, that casualties at Khesanh were light, that we would never give up the marine base there.

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Holling's Dad, Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister)
Page Number: 156
Explanation and Analysis:

I was glad he was running for president.

And so maybe, after all, I had done something to make my father mad. Just not out loud.

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Holling's Dad, Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister)
Page Number: 166
Explanation and Analysis:
April Quotes

"The whole world is going crazy," my father said, "and no place is crazier than college. You'll stay at your job and be safe."

Related Characters: Holling's Dad (speaker), Holling Hoodhood, Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister)
Page Number: 201
Explanation and Analysis:
May Quotes

For supper, my mother set only three places. She did not cook lima beans. She did not say anything while my father swore up and down […] Didn't she realize that this didn't help his business reputation or his chances for the Chamber of Commerce Businessman of 1968, which that creep Kowalski was trying to steal from him?

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Holling's Dad, Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister), Holling's Mother
Page Number: 214
Explanation and Analysis:

That's when I knew for the first time that I really did love my sister. But I didn't know if I wanted more for her to come back or for her to find whatever it was that she was trying to find.

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister)
Page Number: 226
Explanation and Analysis:
June Quotes

"You think that's how you become a man, by chanting a few prayers?"

"You think you become a man by getting a job as an architect?"

Related Characters: Holling Hoodhood (speaker), Holling's Dad (speaker), Danny Hupfer, Heather Hoodhood (Holling's Sister), Holling's Mother
Page Number: 253
Explanation and Analysis: