Throwback Thursday: Wayside School

Lesley Anne and I are life-long readers; that is, we have loved reading our whole lives. Sure, we played football at recess with the boys, but we also had at least 4 books checked out from our school library at all times. We thought a fun way to showcase the books that solidified our love of literature at a young age is to put a bookish twist on the ever-popular Throwback Thursday meme. If you, too, started your love affair with books as soon as you learned to read, you will probably recognize a lot of these titles. If your love of reading was something acquired later in life, you might have missed these gems. These books are near and dear to our hearts in a special way; it is through them we first learned the hidden power of words and imagination. The beauty of these books is that they remain just as wonderful to re-read as an adult. Ahh, the power of nostalgia :)

The Vitals

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
Release Date: 1978
Page Count: 118
Genre: Children's
Target Audience: Children/Middle Grades
Series: Wayside School #1
Source and Format: Purchased; Paperback

Summary (From Goodreads)
There was a terrible mistake - Wayside School was built with one classroom on top of another, thirty stories high (The builder said he was sorry.) Maybe that's why all kinds of funny things happened at Wayside-especially on the thirteenth floor.

Notes on Wayside
I remember discovering this series in 3rd grade. My best friend at the time, Spencer, had started reading it and really liked it. I was a little hesitant because I thought it was going to be too childish. And, let's be honest, Spencer was a boy and had a weird sense of humor sometimes. I, being the mature 8 year old I was, did not want to read a chapter book that I considered to be below my intelligence. (I was pretty insufferable). Spencer finally talked me into it and I ended up loving the series. There were only three out at the time and our whole class devoured them. Lesley Anne, unfortunately, was in another class so I am not sure about her feelings on this book. Looking back, it is funny to realize how a class of such diverse students all loved this weird, quirky series so much. I honestly do not know how to tell you what this book is about. My niece discovered it at 2nd & Charles a month ago and asked me about it. All I could tell her was I loved it and it was really funny. I know this post is not very helpful for those of you who have not read it. It is, however, one of my all time favorite children's books because of the sense of community it gave my 3rd grade class. Not that we knew it as such at the time, of course. I think the weirdness of the books appealed to everyone, even me who had (and still has) a hard time enjoying things that are just silly.

Overall Diagnosis

Memorable Quotes
“You need a reason to be sad. You don't need a reason to be happy.”

“It's funny how a person can be right all the time and still be wrong.”