Fuzzy Mud
Fifth grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi and seventh grader Marshall Walsh have been walking to and from Woodridge Academy together since elementary school. But their routine is disrupted when bully Chad Hilligas challenges Marshall to a fight. To avoid the conflict, Marshall takes a shortcut home through the off-limits woods. Tamaya, unaware of the reason for the detour, reluctantly follows. They soon get lost. And then they find trouble. Bigger trouble than anyone could ever have imagined. In the days and weeks that follow, the authorities and the U.S. Senate become involved, and what they uncover might affect the future of the world.
Themes & atmosphere
Also by Louis Sachar
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What you might want to know about Fuzzy Mud
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
When a fifth grader disappears in the woods behind their school, two classmates start finding strange fuzzy mud on their shoes. The mud, it turns out, is alive, and a nearby company knows more than it has said.
Fuzzy Mud was written by Louis Sachar and published in 2015. Sachar is the author of the Newbery Medal winning Holes, the Wayside School series, and other middle-grade favorites.
Fuzzy Mud is middle grade, recommended for readers 8 to 12. The thriller-mystery elements, scientific premise about runaway organisms, and short chapters make it a popular classroom read for grades four through six.
Fuzzy Mud is 192 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Fuzzy Mud takes most readers 3 to 4 hours to finish.
Fuzzy Mud is a standalone novel by Louis Sachar, not part of a series.
Fuzzy Mud is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.