Sideways Stories From Wayside School Chapter 4 Summary

Sharie

  • Sharie is a tiny girl with big eyelashes and an even bigger coat, who spends her class time staring out of the window. Since Mrs. Jewls tends to be the opposite of every teacher in the world, this is, of course, perfectly fine with her. As Mrs. Jewls says, "a lot of people learn best when they stare out a window" (4.2). And similarly, Mrs. Jewls doesn't even mind if Sharie falls asleep in class.
  • Since Sharie spends all of her time either staring out the window or sleeping, Mrs. Jewls thinks she's the "best student in the class" (4.4).
  • One hot day, Sharie falls into a deep sleep due to her hot, huge coat—so Mrs. Jewls points Sharie out as a good example to the class. Sharie tosses, turns… and then falls out of the window.
  • Since the classroom is thirty floors up, Sharie has a very long way to fall. She has such a long way, in fact, that she falls ten stories before she wakes up and doesn't know where she is. But Sharie doesn't seem to be worried that she's plummeting through the air—she just "yawned, pulled the hood back over her eyes and went to sleep" (4.14). It's official: this kid can sleep anywhere.
  • But perhaps you're worried about Sharrie's safety instead of awed by her ability to sleep. Worry not—Louis the yard teacher scrambles to the rescue and catches her just in time.
  • Sharie seems unaware of her near-death experience: "What did you go and wake me up for?" (4.18) she asks Louis.
  • Louis carries her all the way back up to class.
  • Strangely, Sharie can't sleep that night. We wonder why...