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About Louis Sachar

Louis Sachar was born in Eastmeadow, New York. He still remembers how cool he thought it was to visit his father in his office on the 78th floor of the Empire State Building. When he was nine, Louis moved to southern California. Today he calls Austin, Texas home. During college, Louis worked as a teacher's aide at a nearby elementary school.  He was eventually asked to be the "Noon-Time Supervisor.”  His job was to be a recess monitor and watch the kids during lunch.  Instead of sitting on the sidelines, Louis liked to play games with the students and soon came to be known as "Louis, the Yard Teacher."  Any fan of the book Sideways Stories from Wayside School should readily recognize this funny character.

Louis met his wife, Carla, when she was a counselor at an elementary school. She is the inspiration for the character of the counselor in There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom. They were married in 1985 and their daughter Sherre was born 1987. She was four years old when he started writing the Marvin Redpost series - hence Marvin has a four-year old sister. In his free time, Louis likes to ski, play chess, cards, and the guitar (and sing loudly). But what he cherishes most is spending time with Carla and Sherre.

Among Louis Sachar’s numerous writing awards are: the Newbery™ award, New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year, National Book Award and School Library Journal Best Book of the Year (all for Holes),  the Children's Choice Award from the International Reading Association (1979), 1987 Parent's Choice Award, and the 1990 Young Reader's Choice Award.  His new novel is Small Steps.