Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger (rack) [Paperback]

Louis Sachar (Author), Adam McCauley (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2004 | Series: Wayside School

Strange Strangers Come to Wayside School...

Welcome back to Wayside School! After closing for 242 days to get rid of the cows (don't ask), everyone's favorite thirty-story school is finally back in session.

But all is not well at the school with no nineteenth floor. Mrs. Jewls, the best teacher at Wayside, is having a baby, and that can mean only one thing--substitute teachers.

First comes Mr. Gorf. Was he married to the terrible Mrs. Gorf? And why does he have three nostrils? The kids won't tell you. They're not talking.

Then there's Mrs. Drazil. She never forgets a missed homework assignment, not even one that Louis the yard teacher owed her fifteen years ago.

By the time the class gets the fearsome Miss Nogard, the kids can't wait for everything to return to normal.

Wayside School may seem like a pretty strange place already, but now it has to get a little stranger.

"These additional anecdotes about Wayside School will surely tickle the funny bones of Sachar's fans. Thirty more 'time outs' are miraculously conflated into a semicoherent story about the students and teachers at this unique 30-story 1-classroom-per-floor elementary school. Mrs. Jewls, the teacher atop the school, is out on maternity leave and her students find themselves facing three consecutive substitutes....Contains hilarity, malevolence, romance, relentless punning,goofiness, inspiration, revenge, and poignancy."--School Library Journal.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Revolving around the substitute teachers that the students of this zany school must endure, the 30 stories here will delight devotees of the Wayside School; according to PW, Sachar's supply of plot twists and plays on words are "inexhaustible." Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6?These additional anecdotes about Wayside School will surely tickle the funny bones of Sachar's fans. Thirty more "time outs" are miraculously conflated into a semicoherent story about the students and teachers at this unique 30-story 1-classroom-per-floor elementary school. Mrs. Jewls, the teacher atop the school, is out on maternity leave and her students find themselves facing three consecutive substitutes: Mr. Gorf, who steals kids' voices; Mrs. Drazil, who can be super sweet or sociopathically sour depending on the class's adherence to her rules; and, finally, the mind-reading and malicious Miss Nogard, who has the disturbing desire to turn students against one another. Sachar's offering contains hilarity, malevolence, romance, relentless punning, goofiness, inspiration, revenge, and poignancy. There's an edge here that may disturb some adults?a couple of the subs are over-the-top mean?but young readers will revel in the pranks, wade through the romance, identify with the students' thoughts, detect the thread connecting these stories, and come to realize that good is better than glum.?John Sigwald, Unger Memorial Library, Plainview, TX
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; Reissue edition (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380731495
• ISBN-13: 978-0380731497
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

author spotlight
Newbery Award-winning author Louis Sachar is the creator of the entertaining Marvin Redpost books as well as the much-loved There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, winner of 17 child-voted state awards.

Louis Sachar's book Holes, winner of the 1999 Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, is also an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, an ALA Quick Pick, an ALA Notable Book, and was made into a major motion picture.

A Few Words From Louis Sachar
Of all the characters from Holes, why did you choose to revisit Armpit in SMALL STEPS?
LS: I tend to write about underdogs. It seemed to me that life would be tough for an African-American teenager from a low-income family with a criminal record. Especially someone stuck with the name, "Armpit."
Although this new book is about a character from Holes, the two books are very different. How would you explain to a fan of Holes what to expect from SMALL STEPS?
LS: I can't. I'm no good at describing my books. Holes has been out now for seven years, and I still can't come up with a good answer when asked what that book is about.
Could you imagine future novels about any of the other boys?
Do you think about what Stanley is up to now?
LS: I don't think too much about Stanley or Zero. I left them in a good place. Although money doesn't bring happiness, or give meaning to someone's life, the problems Stanley and Zero face now (and I'm sure they do face many problems) are less interesting than those faced by someone like Armpit.
Plenty of teenagers fantasize about what it would be like to be a young rock star.
You portray it as lonely. Tell us about that decision.
LS: The media tends to portray the teenage world as one where drinking and sex is taken for granted. In fact, I think most teenagers don't drink, are unsure of themselves, and feel awkward around members of the opposite sex. I thought it was important to show Kaira, a rock star no less, as such a person. Her situation, in many ways, is made more difficult as she has no social contact with anyone her age. She is trapped in a world of agents, record producers, and hanger-ons.
I'm imagining that off all the books you've written, Holes is the one that has changed your life the most. Not only did it win the Newbery Medal, it's also simply a popular sensation. Is this assessment accurate? What is this novel's continuing impact on your life? Would you consider it the book that you are proudest of?
LS: Not counting Small Steps, I think Holes is my best book, in terms of plot, and setting, and the way the story revealed itself. It hasn't changed my life, other than that I have more money than I did before I wrote it. I'm still too close to Small Steps to compare it to Holes.
Why do you typically write only two hours each day?
LS: Small steps. Every time I start a new novel it seems like an impossible undertaking. If I tried to do too much too quickly, I would get lost and feel overwhelmed. I have to go slow, and give things a chance to take form and grow.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ha Ha Very Funny, February 1, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger (Paperback)

"Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger" by Louis Sachar is a hiliarious sequel to "Wayside School is Falling Down" also by Louis Sachar. This story takes place in a quite abnormal school. A school that was supposed to be built thirty classrooms side by side, but instead built thirty classrooms one on top of another.A thirty story building with no nineteenth story. The builder said he was very sorry. In "Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger" we get to meet the characters. There's Sharie who sleeps all day. Kathy who hates everyone. Todd who always get sent home on the kindergarten bus. Ms. Gorf who turns the children into apples, Louis the best yard teacher ever,and a few more teachers and students. In this book, Wayside School is closed to get rid of the........cows! Once the school reopens the fun starts. Doors become goozacks and the children loose their vocies, compleatly. Each chapter in this book gets funnier and stranger. Both books are so funny you won't be able to put them down.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WA-HOO!, October 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger (rack) (Paperback)

When I first bought this book,I said to my dad,"How the heck can Wayside School get any stranger?" Well,it did! READ THIS!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wayside School, January 9, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger (Paperback)

Do you like funny books that you cannot get your eye off? Then try Wayside School gets a Little Stranger by Louis Sachar. The book is about a school that closes down for repairs for 243 days and every one of the children who went to the school before get put into a different school.

This book tells you about a class that is on the 30th floor. They have a teacher that is named Miss Jewels but she gets pregnant and has to leave the school for a little bit.

One day there is a new teacher who is the son of a teacher, but he doesn't last. Then another teacher comes and they get rid of her too and then they want to get their old teacher back.

The school has 30 floors but there is no 19th floor. The teacher that works on the 19th floor is supposed to be named Miss Zarves, but if there is 19th floor the children think there can't a Miss Zarves.

So find out how the children get Miss Jewels back or if they get her back, and find out if Miss Zarves really exists. The only way to do is by reading the book; so read the book and I will be very happy.