Louis Sachar - Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger (rack)

g g To Carla and Sherre, with love g g . Contents . g Chapter 1 Explanation For two hundred and forty-three days, a lonely sign hung on the front of the old school building. On some days a child would come, look at the sign, then sadly walk away. Or else a child would come, look at the sign, stand on her head, then sadly walk away. Louis watched them come and go.

But he never said Hi! to them. He hid when they came. It was his job to repair the school. Louis used to be the yard teacher at Wayside School. He passed out the balls and played with the kids at recess and lunch. When the school closed, the children were sent to other schools.

Horrible schools. No two kids were sent to the same school. Louis was afraid hed cry if he talked to them. But he worked hard. For two hundred and forty-two days, he pushed and pulled, shoveled and mopped. He never left the building.

At night he slept on the couch in the teachers lounge on the twelfth floor. Some days it seemed hopeless. The worst part was the smell. He often had to run and stick his head out a window to get a breath of fresh air. But whenever he felt like quitting, he thought about those poor kids, stuck in those horrible schools, and he just worked harder. And at last, two hundred and forty-three days later, the school was ready to open.

Well, almost ready. There was one little problem. Suddenly, from somewhere inside the building, or maybe just inside his head, Louis heard a loud moo. g He put his hands over his ears and said, I dont hear it, I dont hear it, I dont hear it, until the mooing stopped. He had scrubbed and polished every inch of Wayside School. There were no cows anywhere.

He was sure of it! Still, every once in a while, he heard something go moo. Or at least he thought he did. He took the sign off the door. g But before you enter, you should know something about Wayside School. Wayside School is a thirty-story building with one room on each floor, except there is no nineteenth story. Mrs.

Jewls teaches the class on the thirtieth story. Miss Zarves teaches the class on the nineteenth story. There is no Miss Zarves. Understand? Good; explain it to me. g Louis! someone shouted. He turned to see a red and blue overcoat running toward him.

Hi, Sharie! he said. He couldnt see her face, but he knew she had to be somewhere inside the coat. Sharie jumped into his arms. I bet youre glad to be back, said Louis. You bet! said Sharie. Now I can finally get some sleep! All around the playground, old friends were getting back together.

Hi, old pal! said John. Hey, good buddy, said Joe. Bebe! yelled Calvin from one side of the playground. Calvin! shouted Bebe from the other. They ran and smashed into each other. Hi, Eric, good to see you, said Eric.

Hey, good to see you too, said Eric. Oh, look. Theres Eric! Hi, Eric! Hi, Eric! Hi, Eric. Hi, Eric. Even Kathy said hello to everybody. Hey, Big Ears! she said to Myron as she slapped him on the back.

Whats happnin, Smelly? she asked Dameon. You didnt take a bath for two hundred and forty-three days, did you? Hi, Allison. Did you get uglier while you were away, or were you always this ugly and I just forgot? Thats a nice sweater, Kathy, said Allison, who always tried to say something nice. Kathy moved on to Terrence. Im sure glad to see you, Terrence! she said. You are? asked Terrence.

Yes, said Kathy. I thought youd be in jail by now. Todd came running across the playground. Hi, Todd! shouted Sharie, right in Louiss ear. Todd kept running. Hey, Todd! called Jason.

Good to see you! Hi, Todd! called Myron and D.J. But Todd didnt answer. He just kept running until he reached the school building. Then he kissed Wayside School. Out of all the schools, Todd had been sent to the very worst one. It was awful! The first thing he had to do every morning was Wait a second.

I dont have to tell you. You already know. Todd was sent to your school. g g Chapter 2 A Message from the Principal Dameon hurried up the stairs. He couldnt wait to see Mrs. Jewls, his favorite teacher in the whole world.

But the thirtieth floor was a lot higher up than he remembered, even if there was no nineteenth. By the time he got up there, his legs hurt, his side ached, and he had a blister on the back of his ankle where it rubbed against his sneaker. He stumbled into the room and collapsed on the floor. Hi, Mrs. Jewls, he gasped. Jewls. Jewls.

Dameon looked up at her. Something seemed different about her, but he wasnt sure what it was. Oh, Dameon, would you do me a favor? she asked. Sure, said Dameon. I left my pencil in the office, said Mrs. Jewls.

Would you mind going down and getting it for me? No problem, said Dameon. Its yellow, said Mrs. Jewls. It has a point at one end and a red eraser at the other. Dameon got to his feet and headed down the stairs. One by one the other children staggered into the classroom, huffing and puffing.

They were all out of shape. Still, they were very excited to be back in Mrs. Jewlss class. Shouts of joy could be heard from every corner of the room. Mrs. Jewls held up two fingers.

All the children became quiet. Joy stopped shouting. Mrs. Jewls told the children to sit at their old desks. So, did anyone learn anything at your other schools? she asked. Mac raised his hand.

Oooh! Oooh! he grunted. Yes, Mac, said Mrs. Jewls. Civilization! declared Mac. What about civilization? asked Mrs. Jewls.

We learned it, said Mac. Thats very impressive, said Mrs. Jewls. Would you like to tell the class something about civilization? Mac thought a moment. I dont remember, he said. But I know we learned it.

Thats good, Mac, said Mrs. Jewls. Anyone else learn anything? Rondi raised her hand. Evaporation, she said. Good, said Mrs. Jewls.

What is evaporation? I dont know, said Rondi. Dana raised her hand. I learned about exaggeration, she said. It was all my teacher ever talked about. We had like ten thousand tests on it, and the teacher would kill you if you didnt spell it right. Jewls. Jewls.

You learned your lesson well. I did? asked Dana. Mrs. Jewls shrugged. Well, I guess well just continue where we left off. Just then Mr.

Kidswatters voice came over the P.A. system. Good morning, boys and girls. Mr. Kidswatter was the principal. He paused a moment because he thought every kid in school was saying Good morning, Mr.

Kidswatter back to him. Nobody said it. Sharie buried her head in her huge coat, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.