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Johnny's in the Basement
When Johnny has his eleventh birthday, his parents decide that he is old enough for dance classes but too old to collect bottle caps, but Johnny doesn't want to give up his world-famous bottle cap collection.
126 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1981
About the author
Louis Sachar
75 books5,003 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 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 12, 2019
Reading books by award-winning authors from before they were famous can be illuminating. Ten, twenty, or more years before the book or books that are their legacy, was the author a diamond in the rough waiting for an audience to recognize their brilliance, or was there considerable room for improvement? Eighteen years before Holes won the 1999 Newbery Medal and catapulted Louis Sachar to fame well beyond what he'd earned for his zany Wayside School stories, he penned Johnny's in the Basement, a quirky, affectionate junior novel about a boy struggling to bridge the gap between childhood and adolescence. Eschewing responsibility in favor of fun is appealing, but will Johnny Laxatayl still feel that way after meeting Valerie Plum, a nice girl with a lively sense of humor?
Johnny's parents first apply pressure on him to grow up at his eleventh birthday party. The gifts he receives are disappointingly practical. What kid wants socks, underwear, and toothpaste as presents? Johnny's regular bedtime is extended to 10:30, but chores are assigned for the extra half hour. Is washing dishes and taking out the garbage worth a nickel raise in his allowance? Johnny's mother tells him to stop calling her "Mommy", and decides his collection of bottle caps in the basement—hundreds of thousands of caps, covering the floor several feet deep—must be given away. Johnny even has to attend dance lessons his aunt bought for his birthday, which he loathes from the first class. Growing up seems less attractive than ever.
But it's at Leonara's Dance Studio that Johnny meets Valerie, a girl his age who also hates the class. Dancing with her isn't so bad. She and Johnny's best friend, Donald Duckerman, bicker at first, but are both appalled that Johnny's parents would confiscate his bottle caps. Johnny collected them for years in his basement, which is accessible only through a trapdoor in the floor of a hall closet. Valerie tries to scheme ways for Johnny to keep his collection, but he has a feeling his parents will prevail. Johnny is unhappy that Valerie thinks he looks like her dog—even if the resemblance is uncanny—but he realizes that after his collection is gone he'll need her to cheer him up. Maybe the two of them and Donald can learn to have fun the way older kids do, without abandoning childhood just yet. There are a lot of years before they have to think about transitioning to adulthood.
Louis Sachar hadn't fully bloomed as a genius in 1981. Johnny's in the Basement feels disjointed and the point of the story is muddled, but there are remarkable shards of insight. My favorite is the following, echoed decades later in Neal Shusterman's novel Unwind. "Bad dreams are better than good dreams. When you have a bad dream, you wake up, you look around, and you say, 'Whew! It was only a dream. Everything is still the same as it was—wonderful! When you have a good dream, you wake up, you look around, and you say, 'Darn! It was only a dream. Everything is still the same as it was—rotten.'" Bad dream or good, it all depends on the perspective you adopt. Johnny's in the Basement is nowhere near as good as Louis Sachar's Holes or The Cardturner, but Johnny, Valerie, and Donald grew on me, and spending some of their waning childhood days with them was poignant. I'm tempted to rate the book two and a half stars. If you want a glimpse of the author's early writing apart from the Wayside School series, this is the place to get it.
Johnny's parents first apply pressure on him to grow up at his eleventh birthday party. The gifts he receives are disappointingly practical. What kid wants socks, underwear, and toothpaste as presents? Johnny's regular bedtime is extended to 10:30, but chores are assigned for the extra half hour. Is washing dishes and taking out the garbage worth a nickel raise in his allowance? Johnny's mother tells him to stop calling her "Mommy", and decides his collection of bottle caps in the basement—hundreds of thousands of caps, covering the floor several feet deep—must be given away. Johnny even has to attend dance lessons his aunt bought for his birthday, which he loathes from the first class. Growing up seems less attractive than ever.
But it's at Leonara's Dance Studio that Johnny meets Valerie, a girl his age who also hates the class. Dancing with her isn't so bad. She and Johnny's best friend, Donald Duckerman, bicker at first, but are both appalled that Johnny's parents would confiscate his bottle caps. Johnny collected them for years in his basement, which is accessible only through a trapdoor in the floor of a hall closet. Valerie tries to scheme ways for Johnny to keep his collection, but he has a feeling his parents will prevail. Johnny is unhappy that Valerie thinks he looks like her dog—even if the resemblance is uncanny—but he realizes that after his collection is gone he'll need her to cheer him up. Maybe the two of them and Donald can learn to have fun the way older kids do, without abandoning childhood just yet. There are a lot of years before they have to think about transitioning to adulthood.
Louis Sachar hadn't fully bloomed as a genius in 1981. Johnny's in the Basement feels disjointed and the point of the story is muddled, but there are remarkable shards of insight. My favorite is the following, echoed decades later in Neal Shusterman's novel Unwind. "Bad dreams are better than good dreams. When you have a bad dream, you wake up, you look around, and you say, 'Whew! It was only a dream. Everything is still the same as it was—wonderful! When you have a good dream, you wake up, you look around, and you say, 'Darn! It was only a dream. Everything is still the same as it was—rotten.'" Bad dream or good, it all depends on the perspective you adopt. Johnny's in the Basement is nowhere near as good as Louis Sachar's Holes or The Cardturner, but Johnny, Valerie, and Donald grew on me, and spending some of their waning childhood days with them was poignant. I'm tempted to rate the book two and a half stars. If you want a glimpse of the author's early writing apart from the Wayside School series, this is the place to get it.
April 17, 2020
3.5 stars, rounded up because even in this early work Sachar's insights shine. His kids are real, even though they may not resemble mine, or yours. His parents, too, are neither anywhere near perfect nor dysfunctional, but just regular people. I can't say I'd particularly enjoy being friends with any of them, but it's enlightening for a reader (of any age) to meet individuals in books that may indeed resemble certain individuals they may meet irl. And that's a big reason I read so much - I don't know many ppl irl but I sure do learn a lot about all the varieties of human nature from brilliant story-tellers.
I particularly liked certain bits of this. For example, the reason why "bad dreams are better than good dreams" (read the book to learn why, or Josiah's review if you can't make time for this very short book, for the explanation). I liked Christene, a very strange 5 year-old (but aren't most of them, each in their own way?).
I liked how Johnny talked to the moon at night, as a sounding board, but also almost as if it were an imaginary friend because it talked back, in ideas that Johnny didn't realize he had. I liked how he talked to the moon from his rooftop, but his precious bottle cap collection was in the basement (metaphor alert).
I liked that there are subtleties. None of the metaphors or lessons are spelled out. For example, it seems horrid that his parents spring all sorts of additional responsibilities on the boy the moment he turns 11 and is 'not a little kid anymore.' However, an adult or a re-reader can use life experience to know that there's an untold backstory & that Johnny was undoubtedly warned about this in advance, and that he was long excited to be a more grown up, etc.
I also love Christene's insight that will help us forgive and make up after a name-calling argument, as she told Johnny they're good by saying "You just got rid of some words you didn't want."
I will continue to read and reread everything that I can by the author, ever since I fell under the spell of his Wayside School stories.
I particularly liked certain bits of this. For example, the reason why "bad dreams are better than good dreams" (read the book to learn why, or Josiah's review if you can't make time for this very short book, for the explanation). I liked Christene, a very strange 5 year-old (but aren't most of them, each in their own way?).
I liked how Johnny talked to the moon at night, as a sounding board, but also almost as if it were an imaginary friend because it talked back, in ideas that Johnny didn't realize he had. I liked how he talked to the moon from his rooftop, but his precious bottle cap collection was in the basement (metaphor alert).
I liked that there are subtleties. None of the metaphors or lessons are spelled out. For example, it seems horrid that his parents spring all sorts of additional responsibilities on the boy the moment he turns 11 and is 'not a little kid anymore.' However, an adult or a re-reader can use life experience to know that there's an untold backstory & that Johnny was undoubtedly warned about this in advance, and that he was long excited to be a more grown up, etc.
I also love Christene's insight that will help us forgive and make up after a name-calling argument, as she told Johnny they're good by saying "You just got rid of some words you didn't want."
I will continue to read and reread everything that I can by the author, ever since I fell under the spell of his Wayside School stories.
February 18, 2012
One of the most important books of my childhood. At once deeply shamanistic, kinda zen, and very anti-materialistic. Manages to be very spiritual and very down to earth at the same time. All this in a story about a kid who was forced to give up his bottlecap collection.
Read this goddamn book.
Read this goddamn book.
August 4, 2013
About a boy who collects bottle caps, and also sort of gets a girlfriend. My son liked it.
May 10, 2017
This book made me happy. I laughed and I cried. I thought of kids and kidhood. Johnny, Donald, and Valerie are my heart. Love, love, love.
October 23, 2024
This might be the one of the best-written books I've given a one for ... normally a one is reserved for seeimingly functionally-illiterate authors, books with no editor, books that make you wonder "how on earth did this get published?" But Louis Sachar can write, and is apparently fairly popular.
However, I hated this.
The characters seem to veer from inappropriately young to inappropriately old (I can't imagine a single just-turned-11 boy in the world who is interested in love and kissing at that age). Johnny talks to the moon, and it talks back, and tells him things he wouldn't think of, and it's not a fantasy and Johnny's not insane. His parents are flat-out cruel, but the author doesn't seem to think so, and the conclusion is weird, upsetting, and unsatisfying. I can't believe anyone likes this book, but I'm sure I'll be proved wrong the moment I read other reviews.
It's also the second Sachar book I've read that I really didn't care for, so I'm twice-bitten and won't try again. LATER EDIT: wait, he wrote Holes? I loved Holes. OK, new plan: only read stuff written around the time of Holes, but not around the time of this dog of a book.
Note to future self: Johnny's in the Basement because that's where he keeps his bottle cap collection.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
However, I hated this.
The characters seem to veer from inappropriately young to inappropriately old (I can't imagine a single just-turned-11 boy in the world who is interested in love and kissing at that age). Johnny talks to the moon, and it talks back, and tells him things he wouldn't think of, and it's not a fantasy and Johnny's not insane. His parents are flat-out cruel, but the author doesn't seem to think so, and the conclusion is weird, upsetting, and unsatisfying. I can't believe anyone likes this book, but I'm sure I'll be proved wrong the moment I read other reviews.
It's also the second Sachar book I've read that I really didn't care for, so I'm twice-bitten and won't try again. LATER EDIT: wait, he wrote Holes? I loved Holes. OK, new plan: only read stuff written around the time of Holes, but not around the time of this dog of a book.
Note to future self: Johnny's in the Basement because that's where he keeps his bottle cap collection.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
September 19, 2024
It was so fun to revisit this story I read a s a kid, possibly 40 years ago? Surprisingly I remembered much of the story--it must have made quite the impression on me. Great characters, great storytelling.
March 14, 2014
Forever ago, when Miami Ink was still a show, a girl came in wanting a tattoo based on this book. I can't remember specifics except that I know she read the book while they were tattooing her, and it's been on my to-read list ever since.
That being said...eh. I was pretty underwhelmed. I adore Louis Sachar, and this book had some nice moments, but it's by far my least favorite of his. I did enjoy a cameo from Wayside School's Maurecia, who opened her own ice-cream parlor after being turned into a delicious flavor of ice cream herself in the Wayside books. Otherwise, I'd pass on this one. 1.5 stars.
That being said...eh. I was pretty underwhelmed. I adore Louis Sachar, and this book had some nice moments, but it's by far my least favorite of his. I did enjoy a cameo from Wayside School's Maurecia, who opened her own ice-cream parlor after being turned into a delicious flavor of ice cream herself in the Wayside books. Otherwise, I'd pass on this one. 1.5 stars.
August 7, 2012
I read this book as a kid, and it was the only book I could read over and over and over...well, you get the idea.
It is a great book for kids (especially boys) who are going through that "phase" where they think grown-ups are silly and misunderstanding.
It is a good reinforcer in that sometimes your thoughts and feelings are not as silly as you might think they are. Others go through and think the same things. They just don't always feel they can say it out loud.
I have still read it as an adult and gotten a kick out of the story. The condition of my copy is testimony to that!
It is a great book for kids (especially boys) who are going through that "phase" where they think grown-ups are silly and misunderstanding.
It is a good reinforcer in that sometimes your thoughts and feelings are not as silly as you might think they are. Others go through and think the same things. They just don't always feel they can say it out loud.
I have still read it as an adult and gotten a kick out of the story. The condition of my copy is testimony to that!
March 16, 2009
I had three favorite books when I was 9-10 years old, this was the funny book on the list. I thought it was hilarious. I spent literally over a decade trying to track it down again (made more difficult because I thought the title was The Bottlecap Kid) when I re-read as an adult it had lost some of the magic but not the humor. Johnny's oops-sorry conversation with the moon, still makes me laugh.
Read
March 1, 2013This was the first book that I ever read for a book report. I have to say it did not dissapoint. The way the boy grows up with the girl and matures is an amazing readers experience. IT kinda sucks though that he worked so hard for his collection and had to sell it all away.
Read
June 9, 2013haha. i was mentally reminiscing about this book and trying to find it. for a while i was thinking i had been confusing titles with content or some such... turns out i was just a little off in my quest to locate a confirmation of the existence of a book called 'johnny's in the attic'
November 7, 2008
one thing i like about this book is that in the middle of the story the character named all the friends that he have.
June 17, 2013
This was one of my favorite books as a kid because I also had a bottle cap collection.
April 12, 2022
This book was absurd. I truly did not like much of anything about it. It was nonsensical to me.
I would be very interested to know what children think of it...
I would be very interested to know what children think of it...
April 28, 2010
wasn't amasing but it was good
Read
April 19, 2011Note to self: my copy of this book is signed & inscribed by the author.
Want to Read
June 6, 2011the only book by this author my library doesn't have
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews