Johnny's in the Basement is a children's novel by the author Louis Sachar, the author of the National Book Award and Newbery Medal winning novel, Holes. This book was published in 1981, by Knopf. It is Sachar's second book (Sideways Stories from Wayside School was his first, in 1978). The book's title is a reference to the song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Bob Dylan, which begins with the line "Johnny's in the basement mixing up the medicine." Source: Wikipedia (en)