11/16/2023 0 Comments Keep it weird wayside![]() Gorf, the worst teacher floor 30 has ever had–appears only in the very beginning of this book (without much introduction) and yet casts a very very long shadow. One of the most memorable characters–Mrs. Sachar also rewarded you as a reader for remembering little details from previous chapters (or even previous books). Concepts like satire, pastiche, reductio ad absurdum would have meant nothing to me when I was first reading this book, but by the end of these books I definitely knew what they were. To try and be more succinct with why I liked it so much: this might have been one of the first books I read with a real fourth-wall-breaking style? Something about how Sachar-as/through-Louis talks directly to you, the reader, makes you feel like you’re reading something very clever and grown up. Holes might be his most famous work, but it never grabbed me the way the stories of Wayside School (build, by accident, with 30 classrooms stacked on top of one another instead of side by side) did. Sachar is, of course, an award winning writer many times over. I have fond memories of these books and their particular brand of absurdism. In advance of reading the new(!) fourth installment in this delightful series, I thought I’d re-read the original three in rapid succession. Jewls, “we caught another one.Old Series: the newest installment in this series comes 25 years(!) after the last, and 44(!!!) years since the firstĪ mild content warning for some old school “humor” around kids being fat which didn’t age the best but is also not used in a bullying way ![]() “I’m glad Sammy isn’t allowed in our classroom,” said Rondi. Todd once brought in a dead rat for show-and-tell, and Mrs. ![]() Jewls didn’t allow dead rats in her class. She picked it up by the tail, put it in a plastic bag, and threw it away. “Well, I don’t allow dead rats in my classroom,” said Mrs. Sammy was only four inches tall, three inches tall, two inches tall. She took off another one of his coats, then another, and another. “They smell better than you do, Pighead!” Sammy shouted. “They smell too bad for me to allow them in my classroom,” said Mrs. Sammy stopped laughing and said, “Hey, old windbag, if you take off one more of my coats and throw it out the window, I’ll bite your head off.” It was hard to say which was worse, the laugh or the smell. Others could hold only one ear because they were holding their nose with the other hand. With every coat she took off, Sammy’s laugh got louder and the smell got worse. She kept doing this until Sammy was only one-and-a-half feet high. Then she put a triangle around the circle and threw another one of his coats outside. Jewls circled his name and removed another coat. And there were still more raincoats to go. Jewls removed six of his raincoats, he was only three feet tall. When Sammy first came into the room, he was four feet tall. His horrible laugh was even worse than his horrible voice. The smell got worse, for he had on still another one. Then she took off another raincoat and threw it out the window. Jewls put a check next to Sammy’s name on the blackboard. “Hey, old windbag, watch where you throw my good clothes!” Jewls held her nose, walked up to Sammy, and removed his raincoat. Every time she passed a playground, she heard them laughing and having fun. “Too bad you won’t ever be able to tell her you’re sorry.” ![]() ![]() And at home, her mother is crying too.” He laughed. You’re ugly and you smell bad! It’s not fair: out of all the mommies in the world, I got stuck with you!” I just called to say I hate you! You’re the worst mother in the whole world. Gorf said into the phone, using Rondi’s voice. Gorf,” said Jason, “I’d be glad she never came home. He became a counselor at an elementary school. Pickle was caught, and he was no longer allowed to practice psychiatry. Pickle had a pretty sick mind himself…Įventually Dr. He cures people with sick minds.Īlthough Dr. He had a small beard on the tip of his pointed chin.Ī psychiatrist is a doctor who doesn’t cure people with sick bodies. He had thick eyebrows and wore tiny glasses. In fact, there hadn’t been a day that Todd didn’t get sent home early. Then he’d have to go home early, at twelve o’clock, on the kindergarten bus, just as he had the day before and the day before that. He knew that if he talked one more time, Mrs. Gorf laughed and placed the three apples on her desk. “Does anybody else have an opinion?” she asked. Gorf wiggled her ears - first her right one, then her left - stuck out her tongue, and turned Todd into an apple. ![]()
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