Sachar's breakthrough came with Holes (1998), the story of a boy unjustly sent to a harsh desert camp, which won both the National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the 1999 Newbery Medal, and was adapted into a hit 2003 film with a screenplay by Sachar himself. His other popular works include There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom (1988), the Wayside School sequels, Small Steps (2006), The Cardturner (2010), and Fuzzy Mud (2015). Praised for blending humor, mystery, and empathy for outsiders, Sachar remains one of contemporary children's literature's most beloved voices. He lives in Texas with his family.
Luis Sachir
Louis Sachar (born March 20, 1954) is an American author best known for his witty, heartfelt children's and young adult fiction. Born in East Meadow, New York, he moved to Southern California as a child, where the warm weather fostered his love of reading. While studying economics at the University of California, Berkeley, he worked as a teacher's aide at Hillside Elementary School—an experience that inspired his debut book, Sideways Stories from Wayside School (1978). After earning a law degree from Hastings College of the Law, he practiced law part-time while writing in his spare hours.