'Kids Love To Be Scared': Louis Sachar On Balancing Fun And Fear

Transcript

ARUN RATH, HOST:

Louis Sachar writes creepy, funny, often weird books for kids. His "Wayside School" stories are favorites in elementary schools. His 1999 Newberry Medal winner, "Holes," is still flying off shelves. Sachar's new book is an eco-bioterror-mystery-thriller-comedy. It's called "Fuzzy Mud." When he came by NPR West a few days ago, I asked him to introduce the main three characters, starting with the protagonist Tamaya Dhilwaddi, who's a bit different from the typical hero in today's books for young readers.

LOUIS SACHAR: If it's a girl main character, especially, they're sassy and spunky, and she's the opposite. She's this very quiet girl who just wants to do good, please the teachers. And that's worked pretty well for her through kindergarten through fourth grade, but now that she's in fifth grade, her friends are now calling her a goody-goody and things like that. And she's not sure when the rules have changed. And then she walks every day to school with Marshall Walsh, who she's kind of had a crush on over the years, but nothing...

RATH: She's in fifth grade. He's in seventh.

SACHAR: He's - right. But lately she doesn't - she's not sure why, but he's been kind of acting like a jerk. And we find out that he's basically been bullied this year, and the bully is the third main character. That's Chad Hilligas.

RATH: And right next to the school is a pretty scary woods, and that's where they encounter this mysterious mud.

SACHAR: Right, yeah. Chad threatens to beat Marshall up after school. So when Marshall and Tamaya walk home, he leads her on this shortcut through the woods, and they proceed to get lost. And she discovers this odd-looking substance that she calls fuzzy mud.

RATH: And I want to not give away too much again, but the fuzzy mud is, I guess, the source of the mystery and terror, I guess, that takes place.

SACHAR: Right. Yeah, it's a pretty scary story.

RATH: There's a biotech firm.

SACHAR: Right, and they're genetically engineering these slime mold, and some of these have escaped. And that's what - that's become the cause of the fuzzy mud.

RATH: So let's do some play acting. I'm going to play the part of a skeptical publisher.

So a biotech-eco-disaster-thriller for young readers - Lewis Sachar, what's wrong with you?

SACHAR: (Laughter) Kids love to be scared.

RATH: (Laughter).

SACHAR: You know, whether they get the environmental implications - and I think most will. But, you know, it's a good, scary story.

RATH: It's scary, and there's even - with this biological agent, it's horror. It's almost like something out of a David Cronenberg movie (laughter) - that kind of body horror.

SACHAR: Well, yeah, I - when writing it, I had to be very careful - had to find the right balance. So it couldn't be too horrific 'cause it's for kids, and it's just supposed - at it's core, it's a fun, scary story. You know, in certain drafts, it would cross the line too much one way. And then it would swing back, and it'd be not scary enough, you know, the next time through. So I had to find the right - the right balance.

RATH: There's something especially fascinating about this particular age. Tamaya is in fifth grade. The boys are in seventh grade. There's this kind of fascination about the opposite sex, but it's - they don't quite understand what it's all about yet.

SACHAR: Yeah, I mean, especially for Tamaya - you know, her group of friends are - at the beginning of the book, are very excited because they're sitting next to older boys. And, you know - and getting to hang out with older boys is just very exciting for them, although Tamaya is kind of too scared to say anything.

RATH: And the rules are all changing, I think, as Tamaya observes at one point that - wait, when did all of a sudden - it's bad to be good?

SACHAR: Right, right. You know, up until fifth grade, she and her friends all, you know, just tried to please the teacher and do their homework. And now suddenly, her friends are no longer acting like that. They call her a goody-goody and a goody two shoes, and she's not sure what happened.

RATH: I'm curious about the name of our female protagonist here 'cause you - arguably, your most famous character was Stanley Yelnats. His name's a palindrome.

SACHAR: Right.

RATH: I was wondering if there was something I was not getting about Tamaya Dhilwaddi.

SACHAR: No.

RATH: Sounds vaguely Indian (laughter) .

SACHAR: Right. It was - I didn't want to name like Sarah or Vanessa or - you know. The world's getting much more diverse. And I wanted her to sound more ethnic, but I didn't really have any specific ethnicity in mind. So I made up a name that, like you said, sounded vaguely Indian. It could be vaguely Japanese. It could be a lot of things. There's nothing more to it than that.

RATH: You've been writing for young people for a while. You've won the Newberry back in 1999. Did you feel like your audience has changed, or is what is a great book for young readers now pretty much what it was 15 years ago?

SACHAR: Yeah, I've actually been writing since 1976, and my first book is still in print and doing very well. So, no, I think - I don't think it has changed - kids have changed. I've changed, and so it's - you know, it sometimes gets harder for me to put myself, you know, into that mindset. You know, when I first started writing, I was 22 years old, and now I'm 61. So it gets more of a challenge to me, but I don't think kids have changed all that much.

RATH: Lewis Sachar's new book is "Fuzzy Mud," and it's out on Tuesday. Lewis Sachar, thanks very much. It's been great speaking with you.

SACHAR: Well, thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.