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Wayside School #2.75
More Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School
Welcome back to maths class at Wayside School. How much is peppers + pig lips? If Jenny's shirt has sparkles on it, will Todd have egg in his hair? These Sideways Arithmetic problems may look puzzling at first, but you can use real maths to solve them, and the answers are perfectly logical. There are lots of clues and hints, plus all the answers are right there in the book. Best of all the children you have read about in the other books about Wayside School are here to help you! Try solving the brainteasers in this book, along with Mrs Jewls and the children from her class, and maths will be a dream!
112 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1994
17 people are currently reading
1263 people want to read
About the author
Louis Sachar
96 books4,696 followersLouis Sachar (pronounced Sacker), born March 20, 1954, is an American author of children's books.
Louis was born in East Meadow, New York, in 1954. When he was nine, he moved to Tustin, California. He went to college at the University of California at Berkeley and graduated in 1976, as an economics major. The next year, he wrote his first book, Sideways Stories from Wayside School .
He was working at a sweater warehouse during the day and wrote at night. Almost a year later, he was fired from the job. He decided to go to law school. He attended Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.
His first book was published while he was in law school. He graduated in 1980. For the next eight years he worked part-time as a lawyer and continued to try to write children's books. Then his books started selling well enough so that he was able to quit practicing law. His wife's name is Carla. When he first met her, she was a counselor at an elementary school. She was the inspiration behind the counselor in There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom . He was married in 1985. Hisdaughter, Sherre, was born in 1987.
Louis was born in East Meadow, New York, in 1954. When he was nine, he moved to Tustin, California. He went to college at the University of California at Berkeley and graduated in 1976, as an economics major. The next year, he wrote his first book, Sideways Stories from Wayside School .
He was working at a sweater warehouse during the day and wrote at night. Almost a year later, he was fired from the job. He decided to go to law school. He attended Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.
His first book was published while he was in law school. He graduated in 1980. For the next eight years he worked part-time as a lawyer and continued to try to write children's books. Then his books started selling well enough so that he was able to quit practicing law. His wife's name is Carla. When he first met her, she was a counselor at an elementary school. She was the inspiration behind the counselor in There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom . He was married in 1985. Hisdaughter, Sherre, was born in 1987.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
September 12, 2017
This is fun but have some math problems that i don't understand! But their is clues and hints that help!
July 17, 2019
I started this book before midnight last night....
Anything I have to say about this book is no different than what I said about its predecessor.... so....
"In a way, I can't help but wonder, "What the heck did I just read?'
I read this in one sitting, obvs. I figured out the answers to close to most, while others made me feel like a half gallon of milk had tipped over in my brain.
...I'm halfway between being a bit scared for these students...and being thankful that this is fiction...
I really have no idea what to say."
Anything I have to say about this book is no different than what I said about its predecessor.... so....
"In a way, I can't help but wonder, "What the heck did I just read?'
I read this in one sitting, obvs. I figured out the answers to close to most, while others made me feel like a half gallon of milk had tipped over in my brain.
...I'm halfway between being a bit scared for these students...and being thankful that this is fiction...
I really have no idea what to say."
November 3, 2023
Okay, so I skipped the crazy word additions/multiplication problems that I couldn't undrrstand and I enjoyed this a lot more than the 1st one 😂
The word problems were fun to figure out and made sense. Loved checking my answers to find out if I was right! I would do these ones again. Literally had my notebook next to me to scratch out probabilities, theories and answers haha
The word problems were fun to figure out and made sense. Loved checking my answers to find out if I was right! I would do these ones again. Literally had my notebook next to me to scratch out probabilities, theories and answers haha
November 17, 2023
Critical thinking, deductive reasoning, and linear logic all come in to play in these unique exercises. Though they are highly unusual, they really do work, and a problem-solver can work them out. They are not overly easy, but not maddeningly hard either, and the solutions are well explained. An accompaniment to Sachar's Wayside School books.
March 6, 2020
This has the same format as the first book - the problems were fun to try, but I didn't really finish any of them. This would be good for young readers who have the stamina to take on problem after problem, since it's pretty dense to work through in one sitting.
June 6, 2017
I love puzzles and it was such a treat to get to do the "math" from the books.
January 26, 2018
A favorite from my childhood that I've passed on to my kids.
May 30, 2018
I already hate math. Please don't ruin Wayside Stories for me too. 😒😧
August 18, 2018
good book. weird problems
November 6, 2018
These books are hilarious and easy to read! Short chapters and my students are laughing out loud reading these books! They have a new author they love!
January 20, 2020
"The problems are too hard."
February 25, 2020
So yup, I still can’t solve about 90% of these problems. I guess I would’ve flunked out of Wayside School.
Unless, of course, I got Miss Zarves as a teacher...
Unless, of course, I got Miss Zarves as a teacher...
April 19, 2020
I don't get these small ones.
June 19, 2020
These helped me during quarantine.
September 7, 2022
Actually a fun book of weird but solvable math problems. Hours of fun when I was young
September 11, 2023
There were a lot of fun brainteasers in this book.
June 29, 2025
Unlike the previous book, this one disappointingly has very little plot and is mostly focused on more puzzles. Consequently, this is the only Wayside book that isn't godlike. Alas.
December 17, 2025
I enjoyed this one a lot more than the first book, probably because it seemed as though Mr. Sachar made the problems in this one easier 😂
December 4, 2022
More Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School
As if one wasn’t bad another. He wrote another one. WHY? Is there even ONE person who attempted to work through all this crazy? You can leave me a comment if you did. Just looking at these pages gave me a headache so I flipped through them and just read what little story in between this insanity I could find. He even says in the introduction he got letters from kids saying “they liked it but they didn’t understand it?” Then he says how can you like something you don’t understand. EXACTLY! They were just being polite, Really what they were saying was they just didn’t understand and it was weird as hell. Teachers wrote him. That should have been a bright red GLARING clue that maybe he should have stopped with one and it just boggles my brain why he 1) thought this was a good idea and “fun” (so he thinks) and 2 Why after the letters he got of confused people that he thought another one needed to be made. I think I have a physical copy of a boxed set of all the Wayside Books. I never read these. Now I fully understand why. Again there’s really no plot. Sue is kinda getting use to the way Mrs. Jewel’s mind wors. BLESS HER. There’s some more idiotic math. There’s some more test Mrs. Jewel can’t get write. Only this time she’s supposedly got a computer to help her out. But I don’t know what bootleg person lurking in an ally she bought this from causing the thing goes berserk and scrambles up all the kid’s tests and answers. Then instead of having all the tests in her grade book or in a folder, she has to go on a hunt through her pockets and the student's desks and trash cans to even find their papers. REALLY?! My mother is a teacher and I have NEVER seen her have to dig for her student's work or mix up the answers to their test scores. There’s some other stuff that tests (tires out) your brain by giving facts statements and having to determine which is true in a list. There’s some kind of game day going on at the school and you have to use the above method. Again, I won’t rate this. If I had too I’d give it a zero.
As if one wasn’t bad another. He wrote another one. WHY? Is there even ONE person who attempted to work through all this crazy? You can leave me a comment if you did. Just looking at these pages gave me a headache so I flipped through them and just read what little story in between this insanity I could find. He even says in the introduction he got letters from kids saying “they liked it but they didn’t understand it?” Then he says how can you like something you don’t understand. EXACTLY! They were just being polite, Really what they were saying was they just didn’t understand and it was weird as hell. Teachers wrote him. That should have been a bright red GLARING clue that maybe he should have stopped with one and it just boggles my brain why he 1) thought this was a good idea and “fun” (so he thinks) and 2 Why after the letters he got of confused people that he thought another one needed to be made. I think I have a physical copy of a boxed set of all the Wayside Books. I never read these. Now I fully understand why. Again there’s really no plot. Sue is kinda getting use to the way Mrs. Jewel’s mind wors. BLESS HER. There’s some more idiotic math. There’s some more test Mrs. Jewel can’t get write. Only this time she’s supposedly got a computer to help her out. But I don’t know what bootleg person lurking in an ally she bought this from causing the thing goes berserk and scrambles up all the kid’s tests and answers. Then instead of having all the tests in her grade book or in a folder, she has to go on a hunt through her pockets and the student's desks and trash cans to even find their papers. REALLY?! My mother is a teacher and I have NEVER seen her have to dig for her student's work or mix up the answers to their test scores. There’s some other stuff that tests (tires out) your brain by giving facts statements and having to determine which is true in a list. There’s some kind of game day going on at the school and you have to use the above method. Again, I won’t rate this. If I had too I’d give it a zero.
November 5, 2012
-RANDOM HOUSE, level 1.8
- Time 11/04 = 35 minutes: 11/05 = 30 minutes.
- 7-word summary: Marvin - wondered - unsimilar - family - doubt - being - kidnapped
- Discussion questions:
1. What body parts are you similar to your family?
My eyes are similar to my father, but I think I am not similar to my mother at all.
2. What's your blood type?
I'm type AB. Only my mother is type A, and other 4 people in my family are type AB.
I thought his misunderstanding was interesting! He might doubt because there were a lot of unsimilar things to his family by chance, but I was relieved ot tragedy but comedy.
- Time 11/04 = 35 minutes: 11/05 = 30 minutes.
- 7-word summary: Marvin - wondered - unsimilar - family - doubt - being - kidnapped
- Discussion questions:
1. What body parts are you similar to your family?
My eyes are similar to my father, but I think I am not similar to my mother at all.
2. What's your blood type?
I'm type AB. Only my mother is type A, and other 4 people in my family are type AB.
I thought his misunderstanding was interesting! He might doubt because there were a lot of unsimilar things to his family by chance, but I was relieved ot tragedy but comedy.
January 15, 2015
A different flavor from the other Wayside School arithmetic book. This one has fewer types of puzzles, but more of each type. It's also more puzzle-driven and less story-driven. And the puzzles are slightly easier than the first book, or maybe doing them back to back gives a lot of practice for the second one.
July 31, 2010
I remember buying a set of books from Scholastic and More Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School was one of them. I read this books when I was ten and I absolutely LOVED it. I read the set over and over again.
August 16, 2014
Does bad+bad=this book? Why yes, it most certainly does. No arithmetic skill at all, more awful "math."
I liked the intro students loved the book didn't understand any of the math, and guess what?!?!
More of the same book.
I liked the intro students loved the book didn't understand any of the math, and guess what?!?!
More of the same book.
September 21, 2015
A cool, different book written in math riddles. This book is a must for Gifted kids or those who think outside the box mathematically or visually.Fun stuff. Not easy by the way on some of the math riddles.
September 17, 2019
These were the first chapter books I read and I recall laughing so hard when I read them. I have returned to them since and laughed all over again. Louis Sachar just knows how to get me (grade school or adult) giggling.
Want to read
February 3, 2008i have not read this book yet but i've read almost all the other book so, i have high expectations for this book and all of the books i hane not read in this series.
May 9, 2008
It is funny and sometimes sad.
Read
October 22, 2008i loved it
October 26, 2008
Kids love this.
January 25, 2009
I just started to read this book.
I like it.
It's combination from math book and funy book.
I like it.
It's combination from math book and funy book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews