Sideways Stories From Wayside School

The Sideways Stories From Wayside School series is a popular series of 3 books by Louis Sachar

Louis Sachar

Louis Sachar is an American author of children's books who is best known for the Sideways Stories From Wayside School book series and the 1998 novel Holes, for which Sachar won a National Book Award and the Newbery Medal...

. Sideways Stories From Wayside School
Sideways Stories From Wayside School
The Sideways Stories From Wayside School series is a popular series of 3 books by Louis Sachar. Sideways Stories From Wayside School, Wayside School is Falling Down and Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger are the three novel-length books...

, Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School is Falling Down is an 1989 children's novel by American author Louis Sachar, and the second book in his Sideways Stories From Wayside School series. Like its predecessor, it contains 30 chapters, although some chapters are interconnected in a more narrative form rather than as...

and Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger
Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger
Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger is a 1995 children's book by American author Louis Sachar, and the third book in his Sideways Stories From Wayside School series.- Plot :...

are the three novel-length books. In 1989, Sachar also released a spinoff, which involves two books of mathematics and puzzles interspersed with stories: Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School
Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School
Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School is a children's novel by Louis Sachar in the Sideways Stories From Wayside School series. The book primarily contains mathematical and logical puzzles for the reader to solve.-Plot:...

and More Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School
More Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School
More Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School is the fifth novel in the Wayside School series of novels by Louis Sachar. Like Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School before it, the book resembles more like a puzzle book with a Wayside theme than a novel about Wayside...

. The books tell many stories of a school built as a tower 30 stories high, with one room per story, but with no 19th story. Each book contains 30 chapters, called stories, complementing the 30 stories in the school.

Students

There have been a total of 30 students on the 30th story.

Allison – She once got stuck on the 19th story for a week but managed to escape. Allison's best friend is Rondi. She owns a pet cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

named Socks. In a chapter of Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School is Falling Down is an 1989 children's novel by American author Louis Sachar, and the second book in his Sideways Stories From Wayside School series. Like its predecessor, it contains 30 chapters, although some chapters are interconnected in a more narrative form rather than as...

, when Allison got to school, everybody suddenly stopped noticing her, no matter how hard she tried, and she couldn't figure out why.
Bebe Gunn (a pun on BB gun
BB gun
BB guns are a type of air gun designed to shoot projectiles named BBs after the birdshot pellet of approximately the same size. These projectiles are usually spherical but can also be pointed; those are usually used for bird hunting. Modern day BB guns usually have a smoothbore barrel, with a bore...

) – She is the most talented artist in the classroom. She once pretended to have a little brother named Ray (a further pun on "ray gun"), who, due to the fact that he does not exist, is on the 19th story. She owns a pet bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

named Picasso.
Benjamin Nushmutt – He joins the class in Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School is Falling Down is an 1989 children's novel by American author Louis Sachar, and the second book in his Sideways Stories From Wayside School series. Like its predecessor, it contains 30 chapters, although some chapters are interconnected in a more narrative form rather than as...

: chapter 2. Initially, everyone thinks his name is Mark Miller, but he is afraid to correct them because of shame over his real name. He reveals his true name to the class one day in Wayside School Is Falling Down; however, the kids think he's pulling a prank on the substitute teacher, so they still call him Mark. He eventually tells the class his real name at the end of Wayside School Is Falling Down, and the other children accept it with little fuss. He also admits he is from Hempleton, not Magadonia (A pun to Macedonia). Since his name is not really Mark Miller, a boy named Mark Miller lives on the 19th story, which does not exist. He owns a pet mouse
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...

named Handsome.
Calvin – He is Bebe's best friend. He draws very slowly, so he always works in conjunction with Bebe. He owns a pet cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

named Mrs. Jewls. He also has a tattoo of a potato on his ankle.
Dameon – He is in love with Mrs. Jewls, and is D.J.'s best friend. In every story starring him, he is caught running up and down Wayside School's 30 flights of stairs and runs into an act with pencils at the end. He owns a pet ferret
Ferret
The ferret is a domesticated mammal of the type Mustela putorius furo. Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females. They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur...

named Yorno.
Dana – She worries that she may have a crush on John. At one time she fears being mistaken for a boy with her bad haircut and unisex name. She owns a pet dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

named Pugsy.
Deedee – She loves sports and owns a pet dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

named Cat.
D.J. – (a.k.a. Deej, Dojo, Dr. Jolly, Dumb Jerk) He is happy all the time. He owns a pet dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

named O.K.
The Three Erics – Three students with the same name, they are all given nicknames based for the other two Erics. They also dress alike and wear glasses.

Eric Bacon – Bacon is the thinnest of the Erics, but he is called "Fatso" because the other two Erics are fat, and so it is assumed that all Erics are fat. He is also a good break dancer, but break dancing became restricted at Wayside School, because every time he danced, he broke something. He owns a pet dog

Dog

The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

named Billy.

Eric Fry – Fry hangs out with the other two all the time. He is very athletic despite his big size, but he is called "Butterfingers" because he once dropped the ball during a game of baseball. His nickname also comes from the assumption that, since the other two Erics aren't very good at sports, all Erics are not good at sports. He is also the biggest kid in Mrs. Jewls' class. He owns a pet goat

Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...

named Billy.

Eric Ovens – Ovens is the nicest of the Erics, but is called "Crabapple" because the other two Erics are constantly negative, so it is assumed that all Erics are mean. He owns a pet cat

Cat

The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

named Billy.

Jason – He is known for his large mouth, and he is secretly in love with Allison. He chews on pencils a lot. He has an older brother, Justin, who's great at everything. He owns a pet cat named Socks. He is the help monitor.
Jenny – She is always late for school and wears a motorcycle helmet. She owns a pet dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

named What.
Joe – He is John's best friend. Although he can find the correct answer to arithmetic problems, he does not know how to count, until one day he wakes up to discover he is suddenly able to count. He owns a pet hamster
Hamster
Hamsters are rodents belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae. The subfamily contains about 25 species, classified in six or seven genera....

named Mino.
John – He is Joe's best friend and the smartest person on the 30th story. He could only read upside down, but after trying to learn to stand on his head, he suddenly could read right side up (but sees everything else upside down). John owns a pet frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

named Yogurt.
Joy – Joy does not receive punishment in Sideways Stories From Wayside School, but is partially punished in Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School is Falling Down is an 1989 children's novel by American author Louis Sachar, and the second book in his Sideways Stories From Wayside School series. Like its predecessor, it contains 30 chapters, although some chapters are interconnected in a more narrative form rather than as...

. She is always stealing lunches. Her favorite target is Todd. She owns a pet dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

, which she named after Todd. Joy has the biggest mouth in the class.
Kathy – She is the "bad girl" of the class who loves to see bad things happen. She owned a pet cat named skunk (he ran away). Kathy hates everyone except for Sammy the dead rat.
Leslie – She has long pigtails and is Paul's best friend. Paul loves pulling her pigtails. She owns a pet cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

named Pajamas
Pajamas
Pajamas, also spelled pyjamas , can refer to several related types of clothing. The original paijama are loose, lightweight trousers fitted with drawstring waistbands and worn in South and West Asia by both sexes...

.
Mac (born Nancy) – He loves show and tell
Show and tell (education)
Show and tell is the process of showing an audience something and telling them about it, predominantly in North America and also popular in Australia. It is usually done in a classroom as an early elementary school technique for teaching young children the skills of public speaking...

and telling long stories with no point, mostly about socks. He was originally very shy because his name was Nancy, but he traded names with a friend, a girl named Mac. He owns a pet dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

, which he named after himself. The former Mac, now Nancy, is his girlfriend.
Maurecia – She likes ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...

, and everyone likes her. She is Joy's best friend. She owns a pet cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

named Strawberry. She is the door monitor. Everyone in the class likes her except for Kathy. She hates Todd also and makes fun of him when he's not around. She secretly loves Todd. This is also known as the Maurecia paradox.
Myron – He went to the basement seeking freedom. He was class president for only one day, but he was the best one ever. He is the nicest, most normal, and bravest person on the 30th story. Myron has never been in trouble. He is the only person in the entire school who likes Ms. Mush's cooking. He owns a pet chipmunk
Chipmunk
Chipmunks are small striped squirrels native to North America and Asia. They are usually classed either as a single genus with three subgenera, or as three genera.-Etymology and taxonomy:...

named Cheese and leaves food out for an odd bird named Oddly (though the bird isn't his pet, as Oddly is considered "free").
Paul – Although he loves to pull Leslie's pigtails, he is her best friend. He owns a pet pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...

named Tails, a play on Pigtails. His father is implied to be the security guard who protects the Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa is a portrait by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a painting in oil on a poplar panel, completed circa 1503–1519...

.
Ron – He is a lousy kickball player. He owns a pet cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

named Dog.
Rondi – She is Allison's best friend. She had a gap in her teeth which everyone thought made her look cute, until she grew two new front teeth. She owns a pet bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

named Crackers.
Sammy – This student wore an unusually high number of raincoat
Raincoat
A raincoat is a waterproof or water-resistant coat worn to protect the body from rain. The term rain jacket is sometimes used to refer to raincoats that are waist length. A rain jacket may be combined with a pair of rain pants to make a rain suit.Modern raincoats are often constructed of...

s on a particularly stormy day and smelled horrible. Mrs. Jewls eventually discovered that he was a dead rat in disguise who had sneaked into her classroom, and promptly disposed of him. Because of his terrible smell and nasty attitude, no one other than Kathy liked him.
Sharie – She wears an enormous red and blue overcoat
Overcoat
An overcoat is a type of long coat intended to be worn as the outermost garment. Overcoats usually extend below the knee, but are sometimes mistakenly referred to as topcoats, which are short coats that end at or above the knees. Topcoats and overcoats together are known as outercoats...

so that she can sleep in class, due to having a non-stop life (of which Mrs. Jewls approves). She has very long eyelashes. She and Deedee are very close friends with Louis but this may be because Louis saved her life in the first book. She owns a pet turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...

named Yorpet.
Stephen – He has green hair colored by pool chlorine
Chlorine
Chlorine is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is the second lightest halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. The element forms diatomic molecules under standard conditions, called dichlorine...

. He consistently chooses poor outfits for school. In the first book, he seemed to be the leader of the class. He does not own a pet, so for pet day, he brought an orange
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....

which he named Fido.
Sue – She joins the class in Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School
Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School
Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School is a children's novel by Louis Sachar in the Sideways Stories From Wayside School series. The book primarily contains mathematical and logical puzzles for the reader to solve.-Plot:...

and is not featured in any of the novel books. She owns a dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

named Fangs, who has big teeth. Although she loves staying in Wayside School, she is unable to understand the class's methods of teaching and they are unable to understand her "normal" methods of math when she tries to teach it to them, to the point of Mrs. Jewls suggesting that she go to a different school.
Terrence – He has earned a reputation as a bully who likes to kick balls over the fence. He owns a pet dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

named Crazy.
Todd – He unfairly always gets in trouble and gets sent home at noon on the kindergarten bus every day. His mission is to see what the class does from noon to 2:00. He does not own a pet, so for pet day, he brought his baby brother, Ralphie.

Miss Zarves' students (Non-existent)

Virginia – She is a grown woman who has been in Miss Zarves' class without going to the bathroom for 32 years.
Nick – a teenager who appears to be in high school and looks a bit like a football player.
Ray Gunn – Bebe's little brother
Mark Miller – He is Benjamin Nushmutt's alias. Everyone in Miss Zarves' class thinks his name is Benjamin Nushmutt, mirroring the fact that everyone in Mrs. Jewls's class thinks Benjamin's name is Mark Miller.
Cow – A cow that somehow got into the 19th story. Miss Zarves doesn't like it in her classroom as it disrupts her class constantly.

Staff/Other Adults

This is a list of adults who are featured in the stories.

Mrs. Gorf – She is the original teacher on the 30th story. She was able to turn the kids into apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...

s, but the students managed to make her accidentally turn herself into one; she was then eaten by Louis. She then appeared on the monkey bars and as a potato salad in the following books. It is rumored that her ghost lives in the basement.
Mrs. Jewls – After Mrs. Gorf was eaten, Mrs. Jewls became the teacher. She is much nicer. She has a coffee can of Tootsie Pops as a reward for her students. She has a cat named MonkeyFace, is married, and has a baby daughter named Mavis. She is allergic to strawberries but likes strawberry yogurt.
Mrs. Benjamin Franklin – Mrs. Franklin is a substitute teacher, who appeared to believe everyone's name was Benjamin thanks to a prank
Mrs. Waloosh – Pronouncing her own name as Mrs. Valoosh, she is a world famous dancer who teaches the tango in the ballroom. She has a strong accent and the students, except Myron, enjoy her class.
Mr. Gorf – Mr. Gorf is a substitute teacher. The students feared him because of his similarity to their mean teacher's name although he appeared nice. He was in fact her vengeful son, and sucked the kids' voices up a third nostril in his nose in order to avenge his mother. His real voice sound like a donkey with tonsillitis
Tonsillitis
Tonsillitis is an inflammation of the tonsils most commonly caused by viral or bacterial infection. Symptoms of tonsillitis include sore throat and fever. While no treatment has been found to shorten the duration of viral tonsillitis, bacterial causes are treatable with antibiotics...

and a French accent.
Mrs. Drazil – She was Louis' teacher in school, and she returns as a substitute. She seems nice, but holds grudges and carries an infamous blue notebook of things she never forgets. She leaves Wayside School to chase one of her former students.
Miss Wendy Nogard – Miss Nogard is also a substitute. She has a third ear on the top of her head which can read minds, a power she uses to make everyone else as miserable as her until she falls in love with Louis. The reason she became miserable and evil is Xavier Dalton, a man she met and loved. He loved her also, until she showed him her third ear, then he thought she was a freak, which Wendy heard.
Louis the Yard Teacher – Based on the author who once worked as a playground supervisor, Louis is kind to all the children and has a moustache of many colors. When Mrs. Drazil forced him to shave his moustache, he became professional and went by Mr. Louis but once it grew back, he was the normal Louis again. He has a crush on Miss Nogard and didn't care when he found out about her third ear. He is generally good-natured and the one adult students will turn to for help.
Mr. Kidswatter – He is the school principal and dislikes all the children. He frequently calls people by their wrong name and works on his rubber band ball
Rubber band ball
A rubber band ball is a bouncy ball made by wrapping rubber bands around a core until the desired size is achieved. -Technique:There are many techniques to building a rubber band ball, and styles vary among rubber band ball enthusiasts. The main challenge when building a large rubber band ball is...
Mrs. Day – She is the secretary. Mr. Kidswatter always refers to her as "Miss Night".
Miss Mush – She is the school cook and prepares some very unusual meals. Students are averse to her cooking, and her most popular hot lunch is "nothing," which she runs out of often.
Mr. Pepperadder – He is Miss Mush's assistant.
Miss Zarves – She is the teacher on the nonexistent 19th story. She imprisons her students by giving them 11 hours of busy work and 2 minute breaks to forget about life outside her classroom. She keeps them happy by rewarding them with A's. Feeling unappreciated, she leaves the school, but is convinced to return by the men with the attaché case. There is no Miss Zarves.
Miss Worm – She is the grouchy teacher on the 29th story and apparently is a whiz at the sideways arithmetic as taught by Mrs. Jewls.
Dr. Pickell (a.k.a. "Dr. Pickle") – receives his nickname from the green pendant he uses to hypnotize students. He becomes the school psychiatrist who helps kids and makes them do strange things.
The Men with the Attaché Case – These three men appear in each book in strange places or at strange times to keep the school in order. One man is bald, and two have black moustaches.
David – incorrectly called James by Mr. Kidswatter, is Mr. Kidswatter's chauffeur.

Other

Dr. Jane Payne (born Jane Smith) - Jason's dentist, a former student of Mrs. Drazil. She loves to pull out teeth to get more money out of their clients. She and her husband Sham Payne (possibly a pun of "champagne") married for money and Jane loves her cat and dog more than her husband.
Xavier Dalton - A shy young man who likes dogs and books by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

. He and Miss Nogard fall in love and he proposes to her, but dumps her not long afterwards because he has discovered her secret third ear. He overcomes his shyness afterwards and notoriously breaks the heart of all the women he meets, unaware that the only woman he ever loved was Miss Nogard.
Mavis Jewls - Mrs. Jewls' baby daughter, who Mrs. Jewls brings to visit her class at the end of Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger. When Miss Nogard hears Mavis' thoughts, the malice in her heart disappears.
Cows - The cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

that invade Wayside School at the end of Wayside School is Falling Down as a result of Mrs. Jewls' cowbell. They can only go up stairs, not down, and Louis is forced to get rid of them in the 243 days that passed between the second and third books.

Stories in the book

Mrs. Gorf:This story introduces the characters from Wayside School. They have a mean teacher named Mrs. Gorf, who, if they do something even remotely wrong or disruptive, turns them into apples. She is forced to turn them back into humans, but when they cause mischief again, she tries again, but Jenny holds up a mirror, which makes the effect turn on Mrs. Gorf. Now an apple, she is eaten by Louis the yard teacher. Ms. Gorf is the mother of Mr. Gorf. Mr. Gorf is talked about later in the series.
Mrs. Jewls:Mrs. Jewls becomes the new teacher after Mrs. Gorf. When she first sees the children, she pictures them as monkeys until the students convince them that they're not monkeys.
Joe:Joe is stuck inside at recess because he can't count in the correct order, even though he always ends up at the correct number. Mrs. Jewls explains after recess that Joe will one day wake up and be able to count correctly, and that if it weren't for school, it could take as much as 70 years before that happens. One day, Joe wakes up and realizes he is indeed able to count correctly. It is revealed that he has 55,006 hairs on his head, all curly.
Sharie:Sharie, who has a big overcoat, sleeps throughout class and ends up falling out of the school. Louis, the yard teacher, saves her at the last moment.
Todd:Todd always got in trouble because he's always picked on by Mrs. Jewls when he does a very small thing wrong. In this sense, Mrs. Jewls could be considered "mean". In the end, despite being harassed by Joy and saving the class from robbers, he gets sent home on the kindergarten bus. (It is revealed in this chapter that Mrs. Jewls operates on a three strikes

Three strikes

Three strikes or 3 Strikes may refer to:* 3 Strikes, a pricing game from the American TV show The Price Is Right* 3 Strikes , a 2000 comedy film...

system; anyone who violates rules three times, as denoted by their name written on the board, a checkmark, and their name circled, is sent home on the kindergarten bus. In the first book, she writes the kids' names on the board; in subsequent books, she makes the kids do so themselves.)
Bebe:Bebe draws the fastest out of everyone in the class. (It is revealed that she can produce a picture of a cat in under 45 seconds, a dog in less than 30 seconds, and a flower in less than 8 seconds.) In one art class, with the assistance of Calvin, she makes 370+ works of art in one hour (a new personal record), but Mrs. Jewls tells her that the quality of art is more important than the quantity (in fact if a single picture produced by a single person over the course of a lifetime is better than each of Bebe's pictures, the person with only one picture has produced more art than Bebe). Bebe subsequently goes home to begin a picture of a cat; she indicates that she probably will have barely begun by the next day.
Calvin:Calvin is sent by Mrs. Jewels to deliver a nonexistent note to the nonexistent Miss Zarves.
Myron:Myron becomes class president.
Maurecia:After Maurecia has tried all the ice cream flavours, she no longer likes ice cream, so Mrs. Jewls makes ice cream for everyone, with one of each ice cream flavours named after the children themselves.
Paul:Paul is unable to resist the temptation to pull Leslie's pigtails. He pulls one of her pigtails, earning him his name on the board, and then, after a brief struggle (including a hallucination of the other pigtail talking), the other pigtail, thus earning him a checkmark. He figures that he can pull Leslie's pigtails twice a day with impunity, until Leslie yells out in pain again. Paul's name is then circled and he is sent home early; it is suggested that Paul did not actually pull Leslie's pigtails the third time, and that Leslie's yell was unprovoked.
Dana:Dana is suffering from an insane number of mosquito bites. Mrs. Jewls turns the mosquito bites into numbers so that they don't itch anymore.
Jason:After Jason gets Joy in trouble for chewing gum, Joy puts her chewing gum on Jason's chair and Jason is stuck to the chair. After many unsuccessful attempts to get Jason unstuck from his chair, Joy kisses him on the nose, causing him to fall out of his chair. Joy was to be sent home early (without being allowed the usual third chance) for getting Jason stuck to his chair, but because she got him unstuck, her punishment was rescinded.
Rondi:Rondi is confused when other people compliment her about the non-existent things she has (particularly her missing two front teeth). When Louis compliments her on her two missing front teeth, she becomes fed up and bites him. It is said that a bite with missing teeth is even more painful than one with the teeth still in place.
Sammy:A new kid named Sammy comes to Wayside School, but something about him doesn't seem right, due to his smell and many raincoats. His name is placed on the board, checked, and circled, in the usual manner, because he not only refuses to remove his raincoats, but also insults Mrs. Jewls. (In an unusual extension of Mrs. Jewls' violation notation system, a triangle is added around his checked and circled name for a fourth violation.) After removing all of Sammy's raincoats, it's discovered that Sammy's actually a dead rat. Because Mrs. Jewls hates dead rats, he is put in the trash.
Deedee:Deedee just can't seem to get a high-bouncing green ball (or even a red ball, which doesn't bounce as high, although high bounces aren't always desirable) at recess because she's on the highest floor and gets downstairs after students from other classes. She disguises herself as a dead rat (knowing Mrs. Jewls' dislike of them) to get down to the playground and be able to get a green ball. (Todd is in on the plan, and is consequently sent home on the kindergarten bus when Mrs. Jewls finds out.)
D.J.:D.J. is happy, but he won't tell why. His explanation is that no reason is required to be happy.
John:John can't stand on his head, which he needs to do in order to read the blackboard. He sees everything as upside-down. When he attempts to stand on his head, he falls over, evidently flipping his brain over, thus allowing him to see things right-side up.
Leslie:Leslie can't figure out what to do with her toes since she thinks they're useless. She tries to sell them to Louis for 5¢ each (a total of 50¢), but then he lowers the offer price on her three smallest toes (on each foot) to 3¢ each (a total of 38¢). When Leslie won't sell the small toes at that price, Louis offers her 10¢ total for the two big ones; she refuses to sell her toes unless as a complete set, thus losing the deal.
Miss Zarves:There is no Miss Zarves, or 19th story. Sorry.
Kathy:Kathy hates everyone, especially the reader (and she doesn't even know the reader!), and she hates everybody all for a specific excuse (with the exception of Sammy, who, as it was revealed six chapters previously was a dead rat). It is indicated that she actually creates the excuses by her own actions; she is hit in the face by a ball because she closes her eyes and allows it to hit her, and she dislikes Alison's cookies because one that Kathy left in her own desk for three weeks became stale and old.
Ron:Ron wants to play kickball, but nobody wants to play with him because he's really bad at it. Louis teams up with him against the whole class; the two-man team is dealt two crushing defeats on two consecutive days. When Louis chides Ron for his poor kicking, Ron punches him (harder than he could kick!).
The Three Erics:Each one is given an inappropriate, stereotype

Stereotype

A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...

d, and just plain wrong nickname. Eric Bacon the skinniest child in the class is nicknamed "Fatso", Eric Fry, the best athlete in the class, is nicknamed "Butterfingers", and Eric Ovens, the nicest student in the class, is nicknamed "Crabapple".
Allison:Allison has two personalities; a kind-hearted and logical one, and an aggressive and superior one.
Dameon:Because Mrs. Jewls wants Louis to join the class to watch a movie, Dameon has to repeatedly run up and down the stairs when Louis asks questions about the movie, which is about turtles. As a result, he misses the movie; ultimately Louis declines to watch the movie because turtles are slow.
Jenny:Jenny arrives at school, but she is inexplicably alone... except for three strange and mysterious men. It is revealed at the end of the chapter that she came to school on a Saturday.
Terrence:Terrence wants to play ball but doesn't know how to play any ball game, so he always kicks the ball over the fence, following it up with an insult when the other kids complain. Ultimately, there are no balls left; in the end, Louis kicks Terrence over the fence.
Joy:Joy forgets her lunch, so she steals Dameon's, eats it, and lies about it. In the process, she gets four other students into trouble. In the end, Joy's mother brings her lunch to school; Joy lets Dameon have her lunch. Due to the guilt she feels, any of the food items she took (which included a turkey sandwich, a piece of chocolate cake, and an apple, plus an extra Tootsie Roll pop she snuck from Mrs. Jewls' coffee can after being given one as a reward for finding the missing lunch and sharing her own) tastes like Miss Mush's cooking.
Nancy:Nancy (who is a boy) trades names with his girlfriend Mac (from the 23rd floor, who is a girl), but when the rest of the class hears about this they want to trade names as well. They do so, but due to the confusion created, nobody knows their new name. Ultimately, everyone in the class agrees to just use their original names. Only the three Erics are unsure of what their original names were.
Stephen:Stephen is the only one dressed up for the Halloween party, which does not happen on Halloween, since Halloween falls on a Sunday that year.
Louis:Louis tells a story to Mrs. Jewel's class when recess is canceled due to a blizzard (despite it being the middle of June.) about a bunch of normal kids in other schools which the children at Wayside consider weird.

Story conventions

In Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School
Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School
Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School is a children's novel by Louis Sachar in the Sideways Stories From Wayside School series. The book primarily contains mathematical and logical puzzles for the reader to solve.-Plot:...

, it is revealed the characters add, subtract, and multiply words. The children at Wayside School have no concept of adding numbers until Mrs. Jewls teaches the kids 4+7=11, in numbers, not words.

If a student does something wrong once, Mrs. Jewls will write that student's name under the word DISCIPLINE. If a student does something wrong a second time, Mrs. Jewls will put a check next to that student's name. If a student does something wrong a third time, Mrs. Jewls will circle his/her name and send him/her home at noon on the kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

bus (which is very odd, as most students would seem to enjoy this). Despite only needing three strikes, Mrs. Jewls resorts to also adding a triangle when Sammy was disruptive. Despite being a good student, Todd is sent home every day on the kindergarten bus as a result of him always unfairly getting in trouble each day. Paul is also sent home on the kindergarten bus, but only once after pulling Leslie's pigtails during class. Another time, when it looks like Joy was going to be sent home early, Todd thinks he is going to have company, but Joy ends up making up for her crime. Mrs. Jewls even sends herself home early for temporarily turning evil.

Goozack was another word for door in the book Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger. After the principal ran into his office door and spilled coffee over his clothes, he said that the word "door" was a bad word. Anyone who said "door" would get in trouble. So he introduced the word "goozack" to replace the word door. Todd was the first student to break the new rule, only because he was late for school at the time and didn't hear the announcement. Later, when Mrs. Drazil said "door" and the students pointed out that she was to call it "goozack," she immediately said "Mr. Kidswatter is a 'goozack'" in retaliation.

Way-High-Up-Ball is a fictional game invented by The 3 Erics. To play you need a rubber ball and a tall building. It is played in the 27th chapter (titled Way-High-Up Ball) of Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger
Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger
Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger is a 1995 children's book by American author Louis Sachar, and the third book in his Sideways Stories From Wayside School series.- Plot :...

. One player throws a ball, and whichever level story it hits is how many points are earned by the thrower. Whoever catches it receives the same amount of points. (The thrower could thus earn as many as 60 points on one throw if they also catch the ball, or if they break a window, which counts for double points). A glopper is a ball that goes straight up and back down, never touching the wall (It is never stated whether a glopper counts for points for the height it reached, or for no points at all). For the game's last-ever appearance, Louis threw the ball, and it hit somewhere between the 18th and 20th stories and never came down since there is no 19th story.

In all 3 stories in the Wayside School series, Chapter 19 differs strongly from other chapters. In the first story, that chapter is non-existent, in the second story, the 19th chapter takes up 3 chapters (all numbered 19) and based on Miss Zarves' classroom, a non-existent location (the last of these is followed by a chapter numbered 20, 21, and 22, all at once, about Mr. Kidswatter being called a "mugworm griblick" by one of the Erics; it is suggested that Eric Bacon did so, as he is the only Eric who writes left-handed, and the insult was written on the back of a haircut appointment card by a left-handed person). In the third story, Chapter 19 is also based on the non-existent location.

In all 3 stories, Chapter 17 has the theme of things being done backwards. The first story is about John reading upside-down, the second story includes a chapter in which the paragraphs are read in reverse order, and the third story has a title which is paradox
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...

ical to its plot until the final sentences.

The last sentence of each book is "everybody _ooed." In the first book it says "everybody booed." (due to Louis telling them a bad story about a regular school) The second booked ends in "everybody mooed," after Louis asks the cows in the building to leave. The third book ends in "everybody ooohed," after Louis kisses Miss Nogard and it doesn't say if they got married.

In other media

In 2005 Nelvana

Nelvana

Nelvana Limited is a Canadian entertainment company founded in 1971 known for its work in children's animation. It was named by founders Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith after a Canadian comic book superheroine created by Adrian Dingle in the 1940s...

, the Canadian-based animation company, produced an hour-long adaptation of the Wayside books. Its theme song was sung by Skye Sweetnam

Skye Sweetnam

Skye Alexandra Sweetnam is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actress, and music video director. Skye first entered the mainstream in 2003 with the release of her debut single "Billy S." Over a year later, her debut album, Noise from the Basement, was released including the singles "Tangled Up in Me"...

. A series titled Wayside

Wayside (TV series)

Wayside is a Canadian animated television series created by Louis Sachar, developed and written by John Derevlany for Canadian television channel Teletoon. The series centers on Todd, a transfer student who attends Wayside, an offbeat educational institution based on Sachar's upbringing...

based on the book and the TV special has premiered on Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon (TV channel)

Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...

and Teletoon. Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

released Season 1 onto DVD in Mid-August 2008.
In 2009, The Riturmin Company has announced that they will be producing an independent film adaption of the books. As of January, the working title has been called The Chronicles of Wayside School.

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