''Johnny's in the Basement'' is a children's novel by the author

Louis Sachar Louis Sachar ( ; born March 20, 1954) is an American young-adult mystery-comedy author. He is best known for the ''Wayside School'' series and the novel ''Holes''. ''Holes'' won the 1998 U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature

, the author of the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

and

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

winning novel, ''

Holes A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

''. This book was published in 1981, by

Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

. It is Sachar's second book (''

Sideways Stories from Wayside School ''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 Nickelodeon television series, '' Wa ...

'' was his first, in 1978). The book's title is a reference to the song "

Subterranean Homesick Blues "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on January 14, 1965, and released as a single by Columbia Records, catalogue number 43242, on March 8. It was the lead track on the album ''Bringing It All Back Home'', released some ...

" by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, which begins with the line "Johnny's in the basement mixing up the medicine."

Reception

The book remained popular for many years. According to ''

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

'', the book is held in 446 libraries. Reviewers consider the book "full of sly humor", and "another corker"''Publishers Weekly,'' cited in: "Louis Sacher, Biographical Essay," ''Authors and Artists for Young Adults,'' Volume 35. Gale Group, 2000
access from Austin Public Library
/ref> It is also described as "a preadolescent way to show contempt for adults' exploitation." A film named ''Johnny's in the Basement'' was planned, but it was canceled on May 2, 2003.

Plot summary

Johnny, who has just turned 11 years old, goes in the basement where nobody bothers him. His parents want him to grow up and go to dance class. They also want Johnny to get rid of his bottle cap collection. At dance class Johnny meets a girl named Valerie who also hates dance class, but likes Johnny. Johnny sells his bottle cap collection, and he and Valerie spend the $86.33 they receive for it on miscellaneous impractical items.

References

{{Louis Sachar American children's novels 1981 American novels Alfred A. Knopf books Novels by Louis Sachar 1981 children's books