Sideways Stories From Wayside School

Written by Louis Sachar

Illustrated by Adam McCauley

HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2003

Genre: Children's Fiction; Humor

Reading Level: Ages 5 to 12

124 pages

I'm not really sure how exactly to summarize this book. It's a quirky, strange, silly book about the students in the classroom on the thirtieth floor of Wayside School. Each chapter is about one of the students of the class, or one of their teachers. There are 29 students, each one different from the others with some really weird character trait. For example; Sharie, one of the students, always wears a big overcoat that weighs more than she does, so that she will be comfortable enough to sleep in class, everyday. The teacher, Mrs. Jewls, thought Sharie was the best student in the class because she believed that a student did their best learning while sleeping. Sharie's chapter gives this brief background on her sleeping habits then goes on about one time when she was sleeping she flopped out the window, and Louis, the outdoor teacher, caught her, and she blamed him for waking her up from a good dream. Each chapter follows this pattern with a brief history of the student/teacher and then tells a short story about the time something happened.

I would recommend this story to any child looking for some silly and humorous entertainment.

As for problems/conflicts that could arise with this book, children tend to copy behaviors they see or read about, little quirks trying to figure out what they like and who they are. With some of the weird behaviors or decisions portrayed in this book, if children were to copy them, parents might be discouraged by that.

I really enjoyed this book, it was unlike anything I've ever read by Louis Sachar, and I literally laughed out loud at some parts. While I did find some parts a little too weird and far fetched, for the most part I am sure children will find it completely entertaining.

My rating: 5 out of 5