-
Access Our
Best Book Club
Books of 2025!
Author Biography | Interview | Books by this Author | Read-Alikes
How to pronounce Louis Sachar: loo-is sack-er (rhymes with cracker)
Louis Sachar is the bestselling author of the award-winning novel Holes, as well as
Stanley Yelnats’ Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake, There’s a Boy in the Girls’
Bathroom, Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes, and the Marvin Redpost series, among many other books.
He was born March 20, 1954, in East Meadow, New York. His father worked on the
78th floor of the Empire State Building. When he was nine, his family moved to Tustin,
California.
He attended the University of California, at Berkeley. During his last
year there, he helped out at an elementary school–Hillside School, an experience that inspired his first book, Sideways Stories from Wayside School.
He attended Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco and graduated in 1980.
He worked part-time as a lawyer for eight years as he continued to write
children's books. He lives in Austin, Texas with his family.
Louis Sachar's website
This bio was last updated on 10/22/2016. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.
Of all the characters from Holes, why did you choose to revisit Armpit in Small Steps?
I tend to write about underdogs. It seemed to me that life would be tough for an African-American teenager from a low-income family with a criminal record. Especially someone stuck with the name, "Armpit."
Although this new book is about a character from Holes, the two books are very different. How would you explain to a fan of Holes what to expect from Small Steps?
I can't. I'm no good at describing my books. Holes has been out now for seven years, and I still can't come up with a good answer when asked what that book is about.
Could you imagine future novels about any of the other boys? Do you think about what Stanley is up to now?
I don't think too much about Stanley or Zero. I left them in a good place. Although money doesn't bring happiness, or give meaning to someone's life, the problems Stanley and Zero face now (and I'm sure they do face many problems) are less interesting than those faced by someone like Armpit.
Plenty of teenagers fantasize about what it would be like to be a young rock star. You portray it as lonely. Tell us about that decision.
The media tends to portray the ...
Sherman J. Alexie, Jr., was born in October 1966. A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, he grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington, about 50 miles northwest of Spokane. Approximately 1,100 Spokane Tribal ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
Small Steps
Try:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie
Josh Berk is the author of The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin (Knopf 2010), named a best book for teens of 2010 by Kirkus Reviews and Amazon.com. It was also awarded a Parent's Choice Silver medal, a starred review from School... (more)
If you enjoyed:
Small Steps
Try:
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin
by Josh Berk
We recommend 15 similar authors
The Fairbanks Four
by Brian Patrick O’Donoghue
One murder, four guilty convictions, and a community determined to find justice.
One Death at a Time
by Abbi Waxman
A cranky ex-actress and her Gen Z sobriety sponsor team up to solve a murder that could send her back to prison in this dazzling mystery.
The Seven O'Clock Club
by Amelia Ireland
Four strangers join an experimental treatment to heal broken hearts in Amelia Ireland's heartfelt debut novel.
Happy Land
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
From the New York Times bestselling author, a novel about a family's secret ties to a vanished American Kingdom.
.gif)
Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
