Wayside School Is Falling Down - Softcover

Sachar, Louis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0380731509 ISBN 13: 9780380731503

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1990

Synopsis

Bestselling and Newbery Medal-winning author Louis Sachar knows how to make readers laugh. And there are laughs galore in perennial favorite Wayside School Is Falling Down! This is the rack-size paperback.

Yum! Miss Mush is dishing out her famous Mushroom Surprise in the Wayside School cafeteria. Ron says it tastes like hot dogs and grape jelly. Clean your plate and you’ll turn green in time for class picture day. Wear your craziest outfit and you’ll fit right in between Maurecia in her striped bikini and Clavin, who’s wearing his birthday tattoo. Say cheese!

More than nine millions readers have laughed at the wacky stories of Wayside School. So what are you waiting for? Come visit Wayside School!

About this title

About the Author

When Louis Sachar was going to school, his teachers always pronounced his name wrong. Now that he has become a popular author of children’s books, teachers all over the country are pronouncing his name wrong. It should be pronounced “Sacker,” like someone who tackles quarterbacks or someone who stuffs potatoes into sacks.

Mr. Sachar's first book, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, was accepted for publication during his first year of law school. After receiving his law degree, he spent six years asking himself whether he wanted to be an author or a lawyer before deciding to write for children full-time. His books include Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Wayside School Is Falling Down, Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, and Holes, winner of a Newbery Medal and National Book Award.

From the Back Cover

The extraordinary thirty-story school and its zany inhabitants are back in the long-awaited sequel to the classic SIDEWAYS STORIES FROM WAYSIDE SCHOOL, one of the most popular Camelot books ever.

The extraordinary thirty-story school and its zany inhabitants are back in the long-awaited sequel to the classic SIDEWAYS STORIES FROM WAYSIDE SCHOOL, one of the most popular Camelot books ever. "Rib-tickling...sure-to-please..."-Kirkus

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

A Package for Ms. Jewls

Louis, the yard teacher, frowned.

The school yard was a mess. There were pencils and pieces of paper everywhere. How'd all this junk get here? he wondered. Well, I'm not going to pick it up!

It wasn't his job to pick up garbage. He was just supposed to pass out the balls during lunch and recess, and also make sure the kids didn't kill each other.

He sighed, then began cleaning it up. He loved all the children at Wayside School. He didn't want them playing on a dirty playground.

As he was picking up the pencils and pieces of paper, a large truck drove into the parking lot. It honked its horn twice, then twice more.

Louis ran to the truck. "Quiet!" he whispered. "Children are trying to learn in there!" He pointed at the school.

A short man with big, bushy hair stepped out of the truck. "I have a package for somebody named Mrs. Jewls," he said.

"I'll take it," said Louis.

"Are you Mrs. Jewls?" asked the man.

"No," said Louis.

"I have to give it to Mrs. Jewls," said the man.

Louis thought a moment. He didn't want the man disturbing the children. He knew how much they hated to be interrupted when they were working.

"I'm Mrs. Jewls," he said.

"But you just said you weren't Mrs. Jewls," said the man.

"I changed my mind," said Louis.

The man got the package out of the back of the truck and gave it to Louis. "Here you go, Mrs. Jewls," he said.

"Uhh!" Louis grunted. It was a very heavy package. The word FRAGILE was printed on every side. He had to be careful not to drop it.

The package was so big, Louis couldn't see where he was going. Fortunately, he knew the way to Mrs. Jewls's class by heart. It was straight up.

Wayside School was thirty stories high with only one room on each story. Mrs. Jewls's class was at the very top. It was Louis's favorite class.

He pushed through the door to the school, then started up the stairs. There was no elevator.

There were stairs that led down to the basement too, but nobody ever went down there. There were dead rats living in the basement.

The box was pressed against Louis's face, squashing his nose. Even so, when he reached the fifteenth floor, he could smell Miss Mush cooking in the cafeteria. It smelled like she was making mushrooms. Maybe on my way back I'll stop by Miss Mush's room and get some mushrooms, he thought. He didn't want to miss Miss Mush's mushrooms. They were her specialty.

He huffed and groaned and continued up the stairs. His arms and legs were very sore, but he didn't want to rest. This package might be important, he thought. I have to get it to Mrs. Jewls right away.

He stepped easily from the eighteenth story to the twentieth. There was no nineteenth story.

Miss Zarves taught the class on the nineteenth story. There was no Miss Zarves.

At last he struggled up the final step to the thirtieth story. He knocked on Mrs. Jewls's door with his head.

Mrs. Jewls was in the middle of teaching her class about gravity when she heard the knock "Come in," she called.

"I can't open the door," Louis gasped. "My hands are full. I have a package for you."

Mrs. Jewls faced the class. "Who wants to open the door for Louis?" she asked.

All the children raised their hands. They loved to be interrupted when they were working.

"Oh dear, how shall I choose?" asked Mrs. Jewls. "I have to be fair about this. I know! We'll have a spelling bee. And the winner will get to open the door."

Louis knocked his head against the door again. "It's heavy," he complained. "And I'm very tired."

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0380731509
• ISBN 13: 9780380731503
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: McCauley Adam
• Number of pages: 152