May 6, 1985 (second edition) May 6, 2003 (third edition) Sideways Stories from Wayside School is a 1978 children's short story cycle novel by American author Louis Sachar, and the first book in the Wayside School series.

The novel was later adapted into a Teletoon animated series, Wayside.

The story takes place in the fictional Wayside School, a school that was meant to be built one story tall with 30 classrooms all in a row, but was instead built 30 stories tall with a single classroom on each floor, save for the nonexistent nineteenth story.

The book is primarily set in Mrs. Jewls' class, which is located on the thirtieth story of Wayside School, and each chapter focuses on a different student or teacher at the school.