Photo: Matthew C. Wright / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Louis Sachar is one of those authors I credit with quietly turning reluctant kids into readers. Holes is the obvious calling card, sweeping the 1998 National Book Award and the 1999 Newbery, but what gets me is the Wayside School books, which are funnier and stranger than children's literature usually dares to be. I find it telling that he trained as a lawyer at Berkeley and then walked away to write absurdist stories about a school accidentally built sideways. That's a man who clearly trusts his own sense of humor. The awards confirm it, but the staying power on kids' shelves says more.
Overview
Louis Sachar ( SAK-ər; born March 20, 1954) is an American author. He is best known for the Wayside School series and the novel Holes. Holes won the 1998 U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the 1999 Newbery Medal for the year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children".
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Louis Sachar
- Name (Japanese)
- ルイス・サッカー
- Reading
- るいす・さっかー
- Born
- March 20, 1954 (age 72)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Horse
- Origin
- East Meadow, New York, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- writer / screenwriter / children's writer / lawyer / young adult author
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- University of California, Berkeley
Awards & achievements
- 2000 Zilveren Zoen
- 1999 Newbery Medal
- 1998 National Book Award
- 2007 Schneider Family Book Award
- 2003 Premio Bernard Versele
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | book | — | |
| Notable work | Sideway Stories from Wayside School | — | |
| Notable work | Wayside School is Falling Down | — |
6. Links
Writer — see all → · Screenwriter — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.