It is difficult to think of a book that I’ve had more mixed feelings about. Sachar had me laughing out loud in some chapters, and scrunching up my face in disgust in others. If you’re looking for wacky, surprising, at times offensive, and at others heart-warming, then I suppose this might be your book. As for me, the bad parts are enough to have me reading this only with parent supervision:

  • Calling kids “fat,” “fasto,” “stupid,” etc.
  • Teachers who are downright unfair, inconsiderate, or at times plain evil (witch-like).
  • Kids’ physical quirks being emphasized
  • Talking dead rats, taunting pig tails (“Pull me!” they said), and children being turned into apples
  • Mrs. Mush, the lunch lady, is thrown under the bus for her terrible cooking (perpetuating lack of thankfulness for school food).
  • Children treating each other unfairly, sleeping in class, stealing, etc.

The list goes on!

And yet, a few chapters had me laughing out loud, such as when Leslie considers selling her toes but freaks out at the suggestion of cutting her hair.

Clearly, Louis sees the magic in the characters and delights in their absurdity. If you’re looking to be surprised and entertained, this one might be great. But I much preferred reading it with my son so that we could talk together about the unkindness/absurdity/inappropriateness of some of the situations.

This book is also reviewed on HouseFullOfBookworms.com: https://www.housefullofbookworms.com/sideways-stories-from-wayside-school/