3x3 Three Minutes, Three Questions Louis Sachar

Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar
Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar

Louis Sachar has been writing books for children and young adults for nearly 40 years. Best known for "Holes," winner of the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award, and the Sideways Stories series, Sachar's books offer both whimsy and humor and are generally populated with eccentric characters confronting absurd situations.

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Louis Sachar will be the keynote speaker for True Lit: Fayetteville’s Literary Festival at 7 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Fayetteville Public Library.

Sachar will be the keynote speaker for True Lit: Fayetteville's Literary Festival at 7 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Fayetteville Public Library. He will also teach writing workshops and speak to students in the Fayetteville Public Schools.

FAQ

True Lit:

Louis Sachar

WHEN — 7 p.m. Oct. 26

WHERE — Fayetteville Public Library

COST — Free

INFO — truelitfest.com

BONUSES — The festival, which begins Monday, also includes writing workshops, a writer networking coffee & visits with authors Darcy Pattison, Jerry McConnell & Claudia Rankine.

He answered these questions for What's Up!

Q. You say you "decided to write a children's book." What or who inspired you? And how did you set about the accomplishment of the idea?

Here is how I came to write my first book:

I was 22 years old. It was my final year of college at U.C. Berkeley. I had been studying Russian for a year, but a week into the term of my second year, I realized I would never learn Russian, and that my dream to read Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in their original language was, well, ridiculous. So I dropped the class, and then picked up a copy of the class catalogue from the student center (there was no internet in 1976) and tried to figure out what class to take in its stead. I was wandering away, catalogue in hand, when I came across a young girl, no older than 10, standing in the middle of the Berkeley campus handing out slips of paper. Little did I know this would be a life-changing moment. The paper said, "Help. We need teacher's aides at our school. Earn three units of credit."

At the time I had no interest in kids, or childhood education, but it sounded easy, so I signed up. I walked to Hillside School, three days a week, and helped out in a second/third grade split class. It turned out to be my favorite thing to do every day. I loved being around the joy-filled kids and away from the heavy world of the university. I had always been interested in writing, and so when I finally graduated, and left Berkeley -- and Hillside School -- I decided to try to write a children's book. I would picture the kids from Hillside in my mind, and then make up stories about them. I didn't know if these stories would ever amount to anything, but I took it very seriously, writing and rewriting each story several times. After about a year, this work became "Sideways Stories From Wayside School."

I sent it to at least 10 different publishers, and one agreed to publish it. Amazingly it is still being sold today, and there are more than 8 million copies in print. I have never seen the kids from Hillside since -- they're now almost 50 years old -- but I wonder if any of them know about the book.

Q. Are there "morals" to your books you hope kids take away with them? If so, what is the moral in your latest book?

A. I never set out to teach morals. My goal is always to write a fun, engaging, and thought-provoking story. But I'm a moral person, so morals necessarily find their way into the stories. But even more than that, when the characters are placed in difficult situations, decisions of right and wrong become essential to the story, and, in "Fuzzy Mud," I think more than in any of my other books, the courage of my two main characters, Tamaya and Marshall, is severely tested. I suppose, if I had find morals consistent with all of my books, I'd say it is to believe in yourself, respect others, and try to find the courage to do what you know is right.

Q. Why is reading important to kids now, when everything is all about computers?

A. It seems to me that computers are all about quick thoughts and instant gratification. If anything, they tend to shorten the attention span of most people, myself included. Reading gives us time to think and reflect on the deeper meanings of life.

-- Becca Martin-Brown

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NAN What's Up on 10/14/2016

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