Here are some fun facts for everyone who loves to read! If you haven't read Holes yet, you totally should - but it's not the only book Louis Sachar has written! Read on to learn all about the author - his bestsellers, his screenplay success, and what an "orange fight" is! Have a go at some of our Holes quizzes, too - see how well you know the story, or find out which character you are!

1. He's from New York!

East Meadow, New York State, that is! It's a small town on Long Island, which is just east of New York City. Louis was born there in 1954. His father worked in the Empire State Building, on the 78th floor!

2. He moved to California

Louis's family moved all the way across the States when he was nine, settling in Tustin, California. It's a city in Orange County, close to Santa Ana and Anaheim (where Disneyland is).

3. He had "orange fights"!

Orange County is named after its orange groves, which were a huge export for the county - and a source of fun for the local kids! They would divide into teams and collect "ammo" (oranges - the squishy, rotting ones on the ground were the best!), and pelt each other with them!

4. He loves to read

Louis was always a good student, but he didn't really get into reading until he was in high school. He says that J.D. Salinger (who's most famous for writing The Catcher In The Rye) and Kurt Vonnegut (who wrote Slaughterhouse-Five and lots of darkly humourous sci-fi) were the authors that first inspired him. He also loves Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro, E.L. Doctorow, and E.B. White (who is most famous for writing Charlotte's Web).

5. He was a door-to-door salesman for a bit

Door-to-door salesmen aren't very common any more, but before the internet a popular way of marketing and selling your product was by strolling up to people's homes and trying to sell it to them upfront! People sold all sorts of things this way, from books and cleaning products to cosmetics and even pets! Louis took up the job after his father died during his first semester in college. Louis moved from his college in Ohio back to California to be close to his mother, and became a Fuller Brush salesman (cleaning products). He says he was surprisingly successful!

6. Then, he was a classroom assistant

Louis transferred to the University of California when he moved, where he studied Economics. He spotted a flyer on campus for a classroom assistant job at an elementary school (the US version of primary school). He applied for the job, because it would give him college credits, and found himself really enjoying it. He helped out with kids aged 7-9 in the classroom and in the playground, where he became the Noontime Supervisor, nicknamed "Louis the Yard Teacher."

7. His first book was published in 1978

Louis was inspired by his time working with kids, and in 1976 he graduated and began work on his first book, which was called Sideways Stories From Wayside School. It's a series of short stories set in a supernatural school, which is 30 storeys tall. Louis says the kids in the book were based on the kids he met working as a classroom assistant. It took about nine months to write, and he mostly wrote it in the evenings (he had a day job in a sweater warehouse, though he was fired - he says "my enthusiasm for sweaters was insufficient")! The series got a TV adaptation on Nickelodeon in 2007.

8. He's also a lawyer!

Louis went back to college to study law, this time in San Francisco. Sideways Stories From Wayside School was accepted for publication in his first week of law school, and though it didn't sell very well at first lots of kids really enjoyed it! He graduated in 1980 and passed the bar exam (which American lawyers need to pass to practice law). He did part-time legal work until 1989, when his books started selling well enough for him to write full-time!

9. Holes was a HUGE hit

Holes was published in 1998, and it is Louis's most successful book to date. It's the story of Stanley Yelnats, who is wrongfuly convicted of theft and sent to a boot camp for teens, where he uncovers a historic treasure hunt, and some truths about his own family. The book contains three storylines woven together and a lot of complex themes about friendship, child labour, fairy tales, masculinity, race and the importance of names. Holes is still a bestseller and it received a lot of prizes, including the prestigious Newbery Medal, which is awarded for "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children." It also got a film adaptation by Disney in 2003!

10. He's written other series, too!

Holes is now a series of three books - Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake was published in 2003 to go with the release of the film, and Small Steps (2006), which is about Armpit, one of the supporting characters in Holes. But he's also written a lot of others books! The Wayside School series contains six books as of 2024, and he's also written the Marvin Redpost series, which is about the everyday adventures of a young boy. Louis has written a lot of one-off books too, like Someday Angeline, There's A Boy In The Girl's Bathroom, and Fuzzy Mud.

11. His family appear in his books

Louis's wife Carla worked as a school counsellor (someone who provides support and advice for pupils). She was the inspiration for the counsellor in There's A Boy In The Girls' Bathroom, who was even named after her! She was also the inspiration for Stanley's lawyer in Holes. His daughter Sherre has also helped inspite his work, and she works as a zookeeper!

12. He wrote the screenplay for Holes

Louis is credited as the sole writer for the film adaptation of Holes - but he nearly wasn't! Another screenplay was optioned that didn't follow the book's plot very closely at all, but ultimately Louis's version was used for the film. This screenplay is very similar to the book, though it corrects a few small plot holes. Louis, his wife and his daughter also appear briefly in the film, in the scene where we meet Sam selling onion juice. Another fun fact about the film: Sigourney Weaver accepted the role of the evil warden because Holes was her daughter's favourite book!

13. He writes every day

All writers have a routine they like to stick to, and Louis is no exception! He likes to write every morning, but usually not for more than two hours. He also says he never talks about a book until it is finished. He wrote his latest book for two years without anyone knowing anything about it - even his editor! When he's done, his editor, his wife and his daughter are the first to get the manuscript.

14. He loves bridge

Bridge is a popular card game, with four players playing as two competing teams. Louis is a HUGE fan of the game - he's a member of the Bridge Center in Austin, Texas, where he lives today, and you can also find him competing in bridge tournaments across the USA!

15. He knows kids are always the same

Trends come and go, but kids stay the same - or so Louis says! In an interview for his 2015 book Fuzzy Mud, Louis was asked if he thought kids today were different from when he started writing. He said that his very first book from 1978 is still doing well, so no, kids haven't really changed! The real challenge, Louis says, is that he's changed - he was 22 when he started writing, after all - but kids still like a lot of the same things! He also says writing scary stuff for kids is good, because kids love to be scared!