Holes

It's a strange story, but strangely compelling and lovely too. Louis Sachar uses poker-faced understatement to create a bizarre but believable landscape--a place where Major Major Major Major of Catch-22 would feel right at home. But while there is humor and absurdity here, there is also a deep understanding of friendship and a searing compassion for society's underdogs. As Stanley unknowingly begins to fulfill his destiny--the dual plots coming together to reveal that fate has big plans in store--we can't help but cheer for the good guys, and all the Yelnats everywhere. (Ages 10 and older) --Brangien Davis

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Holes, 2008-07-04
Great book to read to adolescents. Sensitive and practicle. Good fodder to discuss right and wrong. The movie was good too. Not as good as the book of course, but good as well. Teenage boys told me it was a book to read. Short chapters, lots going on keeps the pages turning.


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Holes: A fantastic book, 2008-05-13
Holes is set primarily in Texas close to the present day (the late 20th Century), although parts of the book flash back to the same area in Texas in the late 19th Century and to the country of Latvia in the late 19th Century as well. The story is told by an all-knowing narrator who guides the story back and forth between the present day situation of the story and two key plot lines about the past. The bulk of the story centers around the main character and protagonist Stanley Yelnats and his life in a boys' juvenile detention center called Camp Green Lake. Stanley has been falsely convicted of a crime and must work hard all day under the hot Texas sun. The boys in the detention center are forced to dig large holes day after day with no other apparent purpose than to "build character." Stanley's family has been under a curse for generations, which began back in the late 19th Century when Stanley's great-great grandfather Elya broke a promise he made to a gypsy woman named Madame Zeroni. A small part of the story that the narrator tells focuses on how this sub-plot developed in the past and how it still affects Stanley and his family today.
The other side-plot of the story focuses on the town of Green Lake, Texas in the late 19th Century, before the lake became dried up and the place became a juvenile detention center. This part of the story deals with the issues of racism and prejudice, and helps to build up the plot for the present day section of the story, where Stanley and the others are at a juvenile detention center. Stanley struggles to make friends and to survive the tough conditions at Camp Green Lake, and he is always battling the larger fight against his family's curse. He and a friend at the camp (named Zero) discover that the camp's warden (a relative or descendant of Charles Walker) is actually making the boys dig holes because she is looking for something valuable. Stanley finds out about his family's history and how his great grandfather's suitcase full of money is buried somewhere in Camp Green Lake. When Stanley's friend Zero escapes from the camp, Stanley escapes as well to go and help him. They figure out that Zero is a direct descendant of the gypsy Madame Zeroni, and so the boys sort of heal that old family rift and thus lift the curse off of Stanley's family. When they return to the camp a week later the boys find the suitcase. The warden tries to take it from them but Stanley's lawyer finally shows up, proves his innocence, and allows Stanley and Zero to leave the detention center (with the suitcase full of money!). The story concludes happily with Stanley and Zero receiving a million dollars each for the stocks and jewels in the suitcase, with the detention center closing down so that a girl scout camp can be built, and with Stanley's father finally creating a cure for foot odor which makes him rich.
There are not many negative aspects to Holes, as it is an excellent read for adults and children alike. One drawback may be that the chapters are very short, spanning two or three pages on average. This makes the story a bit choppy at times as it flips back and forth between the past and the present settings without much warning. Some readers might like the short chapters though, as it keeps the story moving and keeps the reader on his or her toes. I personally think that Holes is a great novel for emerging young readers. It has a rich and complex plot but is not too difficult to read and understand. The author weaves a good mix of humor and fate, and the characters are very realistic and relatable. I like how the characters in the book are diverse and represent different types of kids with different economic and racial backgrounds. Holes is an enjoyable book to read and contains many plot twists and turns that will keep you interested. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in reading it.



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Amazing book for all ages, 2008-05-12
"Holes" by Louis Sachar (1998). Random House, Inc: New York. 233 pages. Realistic Fiction. Grade level: 5.30.
Holes is about a boy whose life is affected by the past. Most notably, Stanley Yelnats, has a family curse from his "no-good-dirty-rotten pig stealing great-great-grandfather" who did not carry out a promise to a magic woman. Stanley's family blames most of their problems on this ancestor. Stanley's father is a poor inventor who works hard but has no luck. He is currently working on trying to invent a spray to remove foot odor. One day, Stanley is walking and a pair of sneakers fall from the sky so he naturally takes them home to his father. It turns out, the sneakers were from a famous basketball player who is donating them to charity. Staney is arrested and sent to Camp Greenlake for his punishment and "rehabilitation." Once he gets to the camp in Texas, Stanley quickly realizes that it is not a camp in the typical sense and there is no lake to be found. He is forced to dig one 5 foot by 5 foot hole each day in the scorching heat and report to the warden if he finds anything interesting. He is accompanied by other juvenile offenders who all fend for themselves and try to survive the grueling work and horrible living conditions. There are no fences, because if they ran away they would die in the desert.
The story also goes takes the reader on flashbacks to the time when the area actually was a lake in the early settling times. It was a small town that was an oasis in the middle of the desert. The one-room school house was run by Kate Barlow who happily taught the town's children and adults alike. Kate takes to the town onion seller who happens to be black. This is, of course, unacceptable at the time so the town kills him and runs her out of town. From that point on, she changes and becomes "kissin' Kate Barlow" an outlaw who prays on unsuspecting travelers and kisses them before she kills them. The town's luck and lake run dry and it becomes abandoned. Before she dies, she buries all of her treasure on the grounds of the lake. Stanley's great-grandfather was robbed by Kate Barlow, but not killed. He survived by "God's thumb" and miraculously lived although no one knew what that meant.
Back in present day, Stanley and another boy Zero run away from camp because they are fed up. They know they must go back or they will die. Stanley notices that a mountain nearby looks like a thumb and they decide to see if they can survive there. After days of walking in the desert, with no water and little food, they make it up the mountain. Stanley carries Zero and they discover a spring filled with onions which they eat until they are healthy again. In carrying this boy up the mountain, Stanley reverses his great-great-grandfather's curse. They decide to return to camp to find the buried treasure. When they get there, they find it but are caught. However, it turns out that the treasure is in a case labeled with Stanley's name on it, which was his great-grandfather's. A lawyer comes to get Stanley out of the camp because he is innocent and ends up closing the camp because it is illegal treatment of the boys. Stanley and Zero become rich and Zero finds his mother with his money. In the end, each character gets what they deserved.
I think this book was amazing. It was elaborately interwoven with past and present. It exposes the realities of fate while at the same time showing the strength and necessity of strong moral character. Stanley and Zero learn to believe in themselves. This book is inspiring and very entertaining. My only concern, is that the author could have discussed the racial issues in the story more. There is the interracial relationship in the past with Kate and also the way the boys at the camp relate to each other based on their races. This was not the focus of the book, which is probably why Sachar did not elaborate on these themes but I think it is a valuable subject to expose. Perhaps, it is merely up to the reader/teacher/parent to discuss the interplay of people of different races in the book. Overall, I was very impressed and would recommend this book to anyone of any age.



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Review of Holes by D.S., 2008-05-11
Title: Holes
Publisher: Dell Yearling
Date: 1998
Reading Level: Approximately 6th grade (According to Fry Readability Formula)
Number of Pages: 233
Genre: Fiction

Main character Stanley Yelnats was convicted of stealing a pair of valuable baseball shoes meant to be donated to a homeless charity. For his crime, he was sentenced to go to Camp Green Lake in order to rehabilitate himself.
At Camp Green Lake, all of the boys are required to dig one hole a day that is exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. When they are done digging their hole, they are allowed to do whatever they want for the rest of the day. But their task is not easy. Camp Green Lake is a barren desert with an unrelenting sun. Each day the campmates wake up at 4:30 am to start digging in the hopes that they will be done before the sun reaches its hottest point of the day.
Three adults run the camp, The Warden, "Mr. Sir", and Mr. Pedanski a.k.a. "Mom". "Mom" stands out as the sympathetic adult, while The Warden and "Mr. Sir" act ruthlessly towards the children of Camp Green Lake.
While there Stanley earns the nickname "Caveman" from his friends and campmates in group D; "X-Ray", "Armpit", "Zero", "Zigzag", "Magnet", and "Twitch". Stanley and "Zero" develop a deep bond after Stanely teaches Zero how to read and write.
Along the way Stanley discovers the real reason why the camp members of Camp Green Lake are digging holes. It in fact has nothing to do with building character, but instead a much more sinister plan cooked up by the Warden.

Though I enjoyed the book overall, there are a few minor set backs in the book. First, author Louis Sachar offers no explanation as to why the Government has decided Camp Green Lake would be an appropriate place for criminal youths to rehabilitate themselves. Given that the Warden's plans have nothing to do with helping these troubled youths, there should have been an explanation as to how the Warden positioned Camp Green Lake as an alternative to prison. Without this important explanation, the book loses points for positing outlandish scenarios as realistic.
Secondly, the book contains a few too many movie friendly cliché scenes. In one example, the members of Group D steal "Mr. Sir's" bag of sunflower seeds. Stanley accidentally drops the bag into his hole. When "Mr. Sir" arrives, he discovers the bag of sunflower seeds and Stanley takes the blame. He is taken to have his first encounter with the Warden in which she tortures Stanley using poison laced fingernail polish. The whole time I was reading this chapter of the book I kept thinking to myself how obvious it was that Stanley was going to get in trouble for taking the sunflower seeds from the very beginning. The chapter was too predictable and made me want to skip over entire paragraphs because I already knew what was going to happen from the very beginning.
Lastly, author Louis Sachar includes racial commentary in a very superficial way. In only a few chapters Sachar alludes to possible racial tensions at Camp Green Lake, but he does not deal with them in a direct way. In fact, he skips them over entirely. In one chapter Stanley wonders to himself if there will be any racial tension at Camp Green Lake. Sachar could have used this opportunity to open a dialogue on the racial structures in America in general and within the U.S. prison system specifically, but he ignores this opportunity by not interjecting any racial problems between the Black, Latino, and White members of Camp Green Lake. Instead, Stanley discovers that racial identity by and large does not exist at Camp Green Lake. This is a truly missed opportunity to add a deeper level of commentary to Holes.
With that said, there were aspects of the book that I did enjoy. The culmination of the separate stories of Kissin' Kate Barlow, Stanley's Great Great Grandpa, and the Stanley at the end of Holes made the story a little more complex. Sachar's interweaving of the past and the present in Holes made the plot much more interesting, while not being overly confusing. Additionally, Sachar's twist surprise ending is not entirely predictable, but will have you going back in the book to review the clues that could have led you to guess the ending of the book.


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Review, 2008-05-09
It's kind of new... but a page is torn in the book that I received.

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