Louis Sachar: Sideways Stories from Wayside School

Louis Sachar is the acclaimed author of Holes, a book which has become a favourite in the 10-12 age group and was made into a movie last year.

This novel tells the story of Stanley Yelnats, who is wrongly accused of a crime and sent to Camp Green Lake to serve time. It is here that Stanley unravels some amazing secrets and has the adventure of a lifetime. His unbelievable and endearing story is a gem and showcases Sachar's fine writing talents. In Sideways Stories from Wayside School Sachar writes for a younger audience and brilliantly executes some hilarious tales.

Wayside School was built wrong _ the builder said he was very sorry. It was supposed to be one storey with 30 classrooms all in a row but ended up as a 30-storey building with one classroom on each floor. The kids don't mind that much as it means they get an extra large playground.

Each chapter of the book tells a story about one of the pupils in the class on the 13th floor and they really are, in most cases, fairly strange and silly _ but that's Wayside School for you.

In the first chapter we learn about the horrible Mrs Gorf who likes to turn her students into apples. The class soon gets the better of her and she is replaced by the nice Mrs Jewls, who remains as their teacher for the rest of the book. Then we launch into stories about the students.

In one, Sharie falls asleep in class all the time and one day falls out the window, but luckily there's someone there to catch her.

In another, Jason gets stuck to his chair and Mrs Jewls throws ice water over him and then hangs him upside down to try to get him free. In the end only a kiss from one of the girls is able to loosen him from the chair.

There's also Leslie, who just doesn't know what to do with her toes and can't see the point of keeping them if there's no use for them. She tries to sell them but just can't get the right price.

While most of these stories continue to follow this silly theme, some do hold a moral, such as the story of Kathy who is obviously a very unhappy girl who does not like anyone or anything and is therefore not so popular herself. And then there's Bebe, who can draw pictures very quickly but with no artistic merit.

This book is quirky and hilarious and will certainly appeal to children. It's also a great title to suggest for reluctant readers as it is compact, easy to read and fun. Behind the humour the morals of some of these tales stress the importance of good values without talking down to or boring the reader.

Louis Sachar was born in East Meadow, New York, then moved to Southern California when he was 9, and now lives in Austin, Texas.

This title is Sachar's first book and was originally accepted for publication during his first week of law school. Sachar did graduate and pass the bar exam but has opted to be a full-time writer rather than a lawyer. Sachar is married with one daughter.

Sachar says he got his inspiration for the Wayside School Stories from his experiences helping out at an elementary school - Hillside School - during his last year at the University of California. It must have been a very strange school or maybe Sachar's imagination is just well developed.

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Price: $17.99

Age: 6-plus

Recommended by: Nicola Rawnsley