Imagine a juvenile detention center in the middle of a scorched desert, where the juvees toil hour after hour, digging enormous holes in the rocky soil.

Or, imagine meeting a boy who feared that he would turn into a girl if he kissed his elbow.

Each of those bizarre storylines sprang from the fertile imagination of Louis Sachar (pronounced Sacker), a soft-spoken, award-winning author who has penned 21 popular kids' books, including Holes and the Marvin Redpost series. Ironically, Sachar's unassuming appearance bears little resemblance to the extraordinary characters he has created. In fact, if you blink, you'll miss his cameo appearance in the blockbuster movie adaptation Holes--he's the man who buys onion juice to make his hair grow.

We spotted Louis in Austin, Texas, his hometown, and talked to him about being Jewish, his new book, Small Steps, and why he "digs" writing for kids.

BABA: Where do you get the amazing ideas for your stories?

LOUIS: I usually just start with a very small idea and see where it takes me. For example, we moved to Texas in the early '90s and the summers here are very long and hot. After we returned from a vacation in Maine, the heat influenced me to make up Camp Green Lake [in Holes], where it was so hot that the lake had dried up.

BABA: So you don't know the entire story before you write it down?

LOUIS: Not at all. A lot of stuff I put down on paper is really bad. I do five or six drafts of every book that I write, and I constantly change things around.

BABA: Some of your characters, such as Stanley Yelnats (from Holes) or Angeline (from Someday Angeline) have problems making friends. Is that something you experienced as a kid?

LOUIS:I think I felt that way in middle school. At that age, a lot of kids feel like they're outsiders, and that everyone else is cool, and they're not. Kids should realize that most people feel that way, and they should try to believe in themselves.

BABA: Who are your closest friends?

LOUIS: My closest friends are people with whom I can talk about anything into all hours of the night.

BABA: Tell us about your Jewish background.

LOUIS: I was raised Jewish, I went to Hebrew school and Sunday school, and I celebrated becoming a bar mitzvah. My daughter also attended Sunday school and temple. I sometimes go to Torah study and Friday night services, and I really like the rabbi.

BABA: Do you have a favorite Jewish memory?

LOUIS: I remember standing on the bimah when I became a bar mitzvah. I remember feeling a sense of accomplishment when I read my portion.

BABA: Are any of the characters in your books Jewish?

LOUIS: Marvin Redpost could very well be Jewish. I do mention in one book that he's going to his cousin's bar mitzvah. Stanley Yelnats, certainly in the movie, had a very Jewish type of family. But I wouldn't mention that a character was Jewish unless there was some reason for it.

BABA: Can you tell us anything about your new book, Small Steps, which is slated for publication this January?

LOUIS: It's about Armpit a couple years after he returns from Camp Green Lake. He's 17 years old, and he's trying to get his life on track. X-Ray is in there as well.

BABA: "Write" on, Louis! And thanks for speaking with us!

Connect Four

The characters in Holes teach us about relationships, and so do characters in the Tanakh! Can you match these friends in Holes with their Biblical counterparts?

Answers: 1D, 2C, 3B, 4A