Sideways Stories from Wayside School

Sideways Stories from Wayside School

Hardcover - USA - 1st edition.

Author Louis Sachar Published 1978-??-?? Type Fiction Genre Comedy Themes Childhood, Comedy, School Age Group Children

Sideways Stories from Wayside School is a children's book written by Louis Sachar and published in 1978. It is the first book in the Wayside series. The book has been particularly successful going through several editions and many different printings. It has also been adapted to a cartoon and a play.

Personal

Own?	No.
Read?	Paperback - USA - 1985 / Audiobook read by Louis Sachar.
Finished	Late 1980s / 2024-04-13.

My class in elementary school had the book read to us, I believe it was in second grade, but I'm not sure. I really loved the silliness of the book and it convinced me to buy a copy of Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School, which, although I had a hard time grasping, was still a great way to help teach math in a more interesting way. As a parent, I listened to the audiobook with my daughters, and they frequently cracked up at the silliness as well, although, I found myself having to point several times that the characters who were doing a bunch of name-calling weren't very nice.

Review

Overall:

Good

• The book is hilariously silly with tons of illogical humor that appeals to both kids and adults.
• I like how the chapters are fairly discrete, each one dealing with a different student or faculty member, although there is still an overarching theme to the whole book.

Bad

• A fair amount of the language and behavior the children exhibit (hitting, calling each other names, etc.) may have been commonplace in the 1970s, but feels out of place today with the anti-bullying improvements in schools.
• Although she's certainly an improvement over Mrs. Gorf, Mrs. Jewls is still a horrible teacher. She's completely unfair with rule enforcement, makes very ridiculous statements to her class, and is often largely unaware of what is going on. While she sounds fun in the stories, I would absolutely hate to have her as a teacher.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Covers

For some reason, the bulk of the covers focus on Mrs. Gorf who is only present in two chapters in the book.

• 

  Original printing. The black and white line art is a bit dull.

• 

  1985 - The cover I read initially from. Focuses on Mrs. Gorf. The backdrop is more indicative of the silliness.

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  1998 - Again focuses on Mrs. Gorf and has a couple drawings from other chapters in the book.

• 

  2001 - Uses the 1985 art. A couple other printings do as well, just with different layouts.

• 

  2004 - An important moment in the first chapter.

• 

  2004 - Reworks the 1998 art, but adds even more stuff.

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  2019 - A new cover for the new illustrator. Still has Mrs. Gorf.

• 

  2021 - This one finally focuses on the students.

Representation

Strong female character?	Pass	Several girls in the class are quite bright and talented.
Bechdel test?	Pass	About half the class is girls, and they frequently talk to each other and the teachers.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	Although a couple students have names common in black culture, I don't remember race ever being mentioned.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

The book has a fair amount of body-shaming and intelligence-shaming.

Links