Reddit reviews Sideways Stories from Wayside School

There is a story from a kids' book I read, oh, about twenty years ago, about a nasty child who is just dirty raincoats all the way down to a small, smelly rat. Thanks for reminding me of it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0380731487/ref=sib_dp_ptu#reader-link , starts on page 56.

Sideways Stories at Wayside School
...i think i read those when i was 9-10.
SO GOOD.

They're on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Sideways-Stories-Wayside-School-Sachar/dp/0380731487

I believe it was this book.

It also had a bit where they tried to prevent the students from bumping into each other by telling everyone to walk on the right hand side going up the stairs and the left hand side going down...

Seven Chinese Brothers is an all time classic. I bought it for my girls. Younger but fun.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School used to be pretty short, but I think someone's turned it into a series now? Still super fun.

Miss Nelson is Missing is another classic. Bought this again for my kids too.

For slightly older, The Three Investigators was my go-to. Read everything a few times. Chapter book.

The Boxcar Children is another neat series of mysteries I loved as a young boy. Chapters also, IIRC.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School. Man, I forgot how much I loved that...

Sideways Stories from Wayside School

I second the Tamora Pierce suggestion. Also definitely Gregor the Overlander! Suzanne Collin's lesser known series (she wrote Hunger Games). I recently finished reading (it's a 5-book series) and it was FANTASTIC. Just amazing. It's a YA series. The House of the Scorpion is also great, might be for your stronger readers. Eragon series is fun, and Dealing with Dragons is still one of my all-time favorite dragon books/series. Bruce Coville is a great author, and his work might be a little young but it's good to have a mix. I absolutely loved everything of his I have read, but especially Aliens Ate My Homework and the rest of that series. Most of these will appeal to the young men, hopefully.



When I was a young lady, I read pretty much anything, but I know a lot of boys like books with a boy main character. I really was a bit horse crazy, so here's some you might look into for your young ladies. The Saddle Club is a very long series about 3 girls and their horse-y adventures. It was really fun and it's great to find longer series because, if they like the first one, there's a lot to enjoy. (Oh a thought - you could always get the first one in a series, then just tell them to get the rest from the library or something, if there's budget concerns) I also liked the Thoroughbred Series and the wonderful Marguerite Henry horse books, especially the famous Misty of Chincoteague but really any of her books is a good read. My all time favorite horse series was and still is The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. Oh, how I loved that book.


There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom was fantastic the first time I read it, and I also like the "Wayside School" books which are both by Louis Sachar. Judy Blume is fun as is Beverly Cleary. Redwall gets a lot of kids into reading, you also might consider some high-level comics/graphic novels to reach a different audience. The Hobbit Graphic Novel has great illustration and I loved reading it so much when I found it one day in a store.


I found history pretty boring so avoided those books but I did enjoy The King's Swift Rider about Robert the Bruce and Scotland, might be the only vaguely historical book I remember reading around those ages. I tried to avoid mystery books more or less, but I loved Encyclopedia Brown (even though according to Amazon it's for younger ages). I enjoyed Harriet the Spy she was a pretty cool girl role-model at the time. My Side of the Mountain was absolutely fantastic and such a great adventure, though I enjoy everything Jean Craigshead George writes. I feel like Julie of the Wolves is pretty standard reading material, maybe not anymore, but what a great story. Oh my gosh, I just about forgot The Indian in the Cupboard, that was such a good story. Anything Roald Dahl is wonderful as is Jane Yolen, I especially recommend the Pit Dragon trilogy. The Golden Compass, So You Want to be A Wizard, Animorphs, Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Kiki Strike, Dinotopia, Song of the Gargoyle and The City of Ember.


I am sure that is way more than you need, but my mind started racing. It was hard to stop once I started -- thank you for that enjoyable tour through my past. Lots of great memories of time spent reading. Hope you find some of this helpful, at least.

I really liked The Monster at the End of this Book, The Poky Little Puppy, Persnickety, Corduroy, Where the Wild Things Are, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, The Rainbow Fish, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Stinky Cheese Man, Miss Nelson is Missing, Go Away Big Green Monster, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Stone Soup, Frog and Toad, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, and, of course, every Dr. Seuss book.

This reminds me of reading this book as a kid, which has a story in it about the fabled 13th floor and how it was full of all sorts of awful and nasty things (I don't remember exact details, it's been well over 10 years since I read it)

How about Holes, or maybe Sideways Stories from Wayside School, both by Louis Sachar. I think Holes would be a fun read.