Wayside School is Falling Down

Published in 1989 by Louis Sachar, Wayside School Is Falling Down is a middle-grade short story cycle with elements of fantasy and absurd humor. Each loosely interconnected story focuses on a different character at the eccentric Wayside School. As the tapestry of stories unfolds, the characters’ quirky behavior and ridiculous predicaments reflect a broader emphasis on celebrating individual freedom and demonstrating the resulting absurdities that such freedom can cause. Wayside School Is Falling Down won the 1989 Parents’ Choice Award, the 1992 Garden State Children's Book Award, and the 1993 Arizona Young Reader's Chapter Book Award.

This study guide refers to the 1989 paperback edition published by HarperCollins Children’s Books.

Content Warning: The source text uses outdated and offensive terms for unhoused people and the Romani culture, replicated in this guide in direct quotes only. In addition, as an older text, Wayside School Is Falling Down makes occasional references to mild gender-based aggressions that are no longer considered acceptable.

Plot Summaries

The stories in Wayside School Is Falling Down can be read individually or out of order, for although they feature the same characters and setting, they have separate plots that can easily stand alone, for each story focuses on a different character and situation.