Wayside School finally reopens after a very strange closure, but Mrs. Jewls has news, and a parade of odd substitute teachers is on the way
Back on the thirtieth floor
Wayside School has been closed for a long time while a problem involving cows was sorted out, and the students of Mrs. Jewls's class on the thirtieth floor have been stuck in ordinary, boring schools. Now Wayside is open again, and everyone is thrilled to be back. But Mrs. Jewls is expecting a baby, and while she is away the class gets a run of substitute teachers who are stranger than anything Wayside has seen before.
Who will enjoy it
Young readers who loved the first two Wayside books, reluctant readers who enjoy short chapters, and anyone who likes wordplay and nonsense humour.
What you will get
The third collection of absurd, interlinked school stories from the tallest and oddest school around, full of wordplay, silly logic and surprisingly sweet moments.
Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Children’s Books · School comedy · Silly stories · Substitute teachers
Length
176 pages · ≈ 5 h
More about this book
Sachar again builds the book from short chapters, each focused on one student or one odd event, and the whole adds up to a loose story about the class coping without their teacher. The substitutes are the comic engine: each has a strange quirk, and one of them, Miss Nogard, is genuinely unsettling in a fun, slightly spooky way. Clever readers may enjoy spotting the joke hidden in some of the names.
Favourite characters return, from Louis the yard teacher to the many children with their own small dramas, and Sachar finds new angles on all of them. The humour depends on puzzles, reversals and logic taken to silly extremes, which makes it a good book for children who like to think while they laugh. Some chapters are also quietly kind, about friendship and feeling left out.
Readers new to the series should start with Sideways Stories, since many jokes rely on knowing the class. A few chapters feel thinner than the best ones from the earlier books, but the energy rarely flags. It reads aloud very well, a chapter at a time, and works nicely for bedtime. About 176 pages in the HarperCollins paperback.
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Wayside School Is Falling Down
Holes
Henry and Ribsy
Fantastic Mr Fox
The Fairy-Tale Detectives
Fortunately, the Milk
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus
How to Train Your Dragon
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Dog Man