Louis Sachar facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Louis Sachar
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Sachar in 2006
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| Born | March 20, 1954 East Meadow, New York, U.S. |
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| Genre | Children's fiction |
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| Spouse |
Carla Askew
(m. 1985) |
| Children | 1 |
Louis Sachar (pronounced SAK-er; born March 20, 1954) is a famous American author who writes funny and mysterious books for young readers. He is best known for his super popular Wayside School series and the award-winning novel Holes.
His book Holes was so good that it won two of the biggest awards for children's books in the United States: the 1998 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the 1999 Newbery Medal. In 2013, a survey by the School Library Journal even ranked it as the sixth-best children's novel of all time.
Contents
From Student to Storyteller
Louis Sachar was born in East Meadow, New York. After finishing high school, he went to college. One of his most important experiences was helping out at an elementary school. He did this to earn college credits, but it ended up changing his life.
Sachar later said this about his time at the school:
I thought it over and decided it was a pretty good deal. College credits, no homework, no term papers, no tests, all I had to do was help out in a second/third grade class at Hillside Elementary School. Besides helping out in a classroom, I also became the Noontime Supervisor, or "Louis the Yard Teacher" as I was known to the kids. It became my favorite college class, and a life changing experience.
Becoming an Author
This experience gave him the idea for his first book, Sideways Stories From Wayside School. The book is about a wacky school with strange and funny events. He even included a character named "Louis the Yard Teacher," just like his nickname at the school!
Sachar wrote the book at night while working in a sweater warehouse during the day. After about nine months, the book was published in 1978. At the same time, Sachar decided to go to law school. He graduated in 1980 and worked as a lawyer part-time while he kept writing books for kids. By 1989, his books were so popular that he could become a full-time author.
Family and Inspiration
In 1985, Sachar married Carla Askew, a school counselor. They live in Austin, Texas, and have a daughter named Sherre. His family has been a big inspiration for his stories. Carla inspired the counselor in There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, and his daughter inspired a character in Holes.
When asked in 2015 if kids have changed over the years, Sachar said, "I've actually been writing since 1976, and my first book is still in print and doing very well. So, no, I don't think kids have changed."
From Page to Screen
Many of Sachar's popular books have been turned into movies and TV shows.
- In 2003, Disney released a movie based on Holes. Sachar wrote the script for the movie himself and even made a small appearance in one scene! The movie was a big success.
- The Wayside School series was also made into an animated movie and later a TV show. The show aired on Nickelodeon in the U.S. and Teletoon in Canada.
Louis Sachar's Books
- Sideways Stories from Wayside School (1978)
- Wayside School is Falling Down (1989)
- Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School (1989)
- More Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School (1994)
- Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger (1995)
- Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom (2020)
- Kidnapped at Birth? (1992)
- Why Pick on Me? (1993)
- Is He a Girl? (1993)
- Alone In His Teacher's House (1994)
- Class President (1999)
- A Flying Birthday Cake? (1999)
- Super Fast Out of Control! (2000)
- A Magic Crystal? (2000)
- Holes series
- Holes (1998) — winner of the National Book Award and Newbery Medal
- Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake (2003)
- Small Steps (2006)
- Other books
- Johnny's in the Basement (1981)
- Someday Angeline (1983)
- Sixth Grade Secrets (1987)
- There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom (1987)
- The Boy Who Lost His Face (1989)
- Dogs Don't Tell Jokes (1991)
- The Cardturner (2010)
- Fuzzy Mud (2015)
- The Magician of Tiger Castle (2025)
See also
In Spanish: Louis Sachar para niños
