Reviewed by Christian C. for TeensReadToo.com

Remember Armpit, from HOLES? It's been two years since he was released from Camp Green Lake Juvenile Correctional Facility, and ever since, he's been trying to stay clean. In order to stay clean, he's established for himself five small steps:

1. Graduate from high school.
2. Get a job.
3. Save his money.
4. Avoid situations that might turn violent.
5. Lose the name Armpit.

(By the way, this is not a sequel to HOLES; you don't need to read HOLES to enj More...

Last we saw Armpit, he was digging holes at Camp Green Lake. Now, Armpit (nicknamed for a wasp bite on his armpit) is still digging holes, but now he's getting paid for it, working for a landscaper in his hometown of Austin, TX. Armpit (or Theodore, as he prefers to be called) is trying to straighten his life out after two years of juvie, while everyone is expecting the worst of him. The only person who believes in him is his feisty ten-year-old neighbor Ginny, who has cerebral palsy. He is earn More...

I was reluctant to read Small Steps since Holes is my all-time favorite book and I had heard several negative things from readers concerning how Armpit and X-Ray were handled.
After reading the book, I can see where some people might be disappointed (it's not Holes). However, I found Sachar's ability to weave several stories together to be captivating. His strength of creating "acting true to who they are characters" is on display as Theodore finds himself interacting with diverse characters.
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I can't tell if this was supposed to be a young adult book or not. Small Steps is a sequel to the book Holes, which was fun to read. In this second book, Sachar follows Armpit as he transitions back into society after his stint at Camp Green Lake. I thought the premise had potential, but in my opinion, it was a fairly transparent story about puppy love and cliche rehabilitation. The book ends with a startling act of violence which doesn't fit with the rest of the story, and then leaves the two m More...

Theodore Johnson a/k/a Armpit is taking the advice of the counselor in his halfway house. He’s taking change in his life in small steps. He’s making the transition from inmate at Camp Greenlake, a notorious Texas boot camp for juvenile offenders back into civil society. He’s doing all right. He has a steady job with a landscape contractor; he’s saving his pay, and going to summer school to complete high school. It’s all going well until his old friend X-Ray stops by with a sure fire way to make More...

Small Steps written by Louis Sachar is a book worthy for reading. This novel is a sequel to the book Holes and has a totally new plot and new sets of conflicts from the first book. In this novel, a boy nicknamed “Armpit” is released from Camp Green Lake and begins a new life working as a gardener for people. As he was trying to steer his life in the right path, his best friend X-Ray, a friend from Camp Green Lake, comes up with a scheme that could make him rich. His plan leads him to see a singe More...

Book Review- Small Steps by Louis Sachar

Jonathan So

5th Period

4/1/13


The novel Small Steps is about a boy named Theodore Johnson, who has just been released from Camp Green Lake, a juvenile camp for teenagers. He is now living in Austin, Texas, and lives his life digging holes for a construction company, when a former member of his old camp, X-Ray, offers him a job working with him to buy tickets for a Kaira DeLeon concert, and sell them for more than they bought them for, and this offer turns his More...

Small Steps is the sequel to Holes by Louis Sachar. I really enjoyed this book because it was a very different approach than Holes which was very refreshing to see. The story focuses on Armpit and X-ray who were two characters in the original book, but in this book they face much scarier conditions than in camp green lake. In this book Armpit is swept into a ticket scalping scheme thought up by X-ray and it will soon endanger both boys. One thing I liked about this book was it had matured a lot More...

***spoiler alert*** "Small Steps" is the story detailing Armpit's (Theodore's) life after leaving Camp Green Lake. Keep in mind this is the sequel to "Holes", however there are very few things you would need to know from that book before reading this one, so I'll go on. Armpit is making an honest man of himself by working for a landscaping business, and he is is earning more and more respect with his friendly personality, which clearly shows that he is not that big bully like we saw him in "Hole More...

This sequel to Holes would have been a let down if my expectations were higher. I knew that it was not possible to recreate the magic we all felt while reading holes but Small Steps was a nice outlook into the lives of some more minor characters from Holes (Armpit and X-Ray).
I found some of the characters were very deep and well thought out but others could have used a bit more attention. I thought that the plot was a bit un realistic but so was the plot of Holes so I cannot really complain on More...

"Small Steps" is one of the best books I think I have ever read. After two long years at Camp Green Lake, Theodore, better known as Armpit, goes back to his home town Austin, Texas. He tries to get his life back on the right track by getting a job for a local business where he digs trenches. The only person who believes he can actually change is his 10 year old best friend, Ginny. Ginny has a very hard life. She is only 10 and she has been diagnosed with Cancer. Being the good person he actually More...

(3.5)
I enjoyed Holes so I thought I'd read another from this author. I was not disappointed. This was a surprisingly gripping story. An off-shoot from a couple of the characters in Holes, Armpit and X-ray return in this novel. Armpit putting to work what his counselor had advised him to do ..take small steps, hence he set 5 goals for himself: graduate from high school, get a job, save his money, avoid situations that might turn violent, and lose the name Armpit. X-ray of course had to jiggle tho More...

*Look ma, no spoilers!*

This is a well-written book. After I read Holes which I thought was amazing and practically perfect, I couldn't dare to read anything else that Sachar had written for fear of disappointment. How could he write anything as perfect as Holes?

Then this book came out, and since it was some of the same characters from Holes, I read it. First of all, it's good; it's worth your time to read. And if it happens that you don't like the magical realism of Holes, this is straight reali More...

What's easy about being the sequel to Holes is that any implausibilities of plot are irreproachable, 'cause you can't hardly get more implausible than Holes and it was awesome. What's hard is simply that you're the sequel to Holes. Because it was awesome. High bar. I'm embarrassed to admit it took me 5 years to get around to actually reading Small Steps, the story of Armpit's X-Ray-influenced adventures back home in Austin, trying to get his life turned around after his time at Camp Green Lake. More...

This is a spin-off book from Holes with the story centered on Armpit (actually named Theodore) and X-Ray.

Armpit has goals: get a job, save money, graduate from high school, stay out of trouble. X-Ray makes attaining some of these goals very difficult for Armpit.

Theodore has changed his life after being released from Camp Green Lake. He has a job working for a lawn service, he's in summer school to catch up for time out while he was serving his sentence at Camp Green Lake (not a camp, nothing is More...

Stanley and Zero had their happy ending at the end of Holes, so Louis Sachar did a sequel of sorts starring two of the minor characters from Camp Green Lake, Armpit and X-Ray. Armpit is trying to put his life back together. He’s got a legitimate job and he’s enrolled in summer school, taking speech and economics. But when X-Ray shows up and pressures him into a ticket scalping scheme, Armpit, against his better judgment, joins in. Naturally, they have just enough success to want to keep it going More...

Theodore aka Armpit a character from Louis Sachar’s 1999 Newbery Medal winning novel, Holes, is hard at work digging holes again, but this time it’s for a job with a landscaping company. His old friend Rex aka X-ray conspires to make a few bucks scalping concert tickets. Armpit decides he wants to use the last two tickets, but when X-ray is offered $300 for the tickets he can’t resist and sells them.

He gives Armpit two counterfeit tickets without telling him they’re counterfeit. When Armpit and More...

First thing's first: I really enjoyed this book. I just finished it (in one train ride and a lunch break), and there could be various reasons inflating my rating, including it just being the right book to scratch the particular book itch that I've had for the past week, or because I found it refreshing to once again pick up a youth book that deals with potentially controversial issues such as race and the fate of former juvey kids.

In the same vein, and as a warning, Small Steps isn't as tongue- More...

The describing events taking place in „Holes“.After what happenend at Camp Green Lake. If you want to know what happend at Camp Green Lake and how Holes are important for your personality read „Holes“.

A few years after Camp Green Lake.
Armpit and X-Ray are friends and they had the great idea to buy concert tickets and selling them. Armpit gave the money to do it so X-Ray can sell them to other people. Armpit (his real name is Theodore) really wanted to see the concert. Armpit doesn't know he ha More...

I've had Small Steps on my TBR pile for some time. I've put off reading it because I wasn't sure how anyone--even Louis Sachar--could top what he accomplished with Holes. I'm glad I finally picked it up. It was the perfect way to spend the afternoon in the hammock on my birthday.

Small Steps tell the story of Armpit once he was released from Camp Green Lake. It's two years later, and Armpit--now known by his real name Theodore--is taking small steps to get his life back on track. He has a job dig More...

Small Steps is about a 17 year old boy named Theodore, AKA Armpit from the previous novel written by Loius Sachar, "Holes." In the story of Small Steps Theodore faces challenges along the lines of trust. His parents do not rust him, he does not trust his friends, and him and the Pop Star singer by the name of Kaira DeLeon do not trust their love for each other. Throughout the story Armpit and his friend X-Ray attempt to create a ticket scalping business, trying to re-sell tickets for Kaira DeLeo More...

I choose to read this book because i wanted to read the second book of holes. The genre is fiction, but I think it could happen. The setting is at Armpit's work and at a concert and New York. The main character is Armpit and he went to a camp called Camp Greenlake. The camp was for kids that did bad things. Armpit is not his real name but people call him that because he got stung by a scorpein in the armpit. in the begining he is working at the mayers house doing yard work. Then his friend X-ray More...

J SACHAR

Gladiola-3 stars

Your may remember Armpit and X-ray from Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention facility in the book Holes. In this book, Armpit is trying to turn his life around by taking small steps forward. He has a job working for a landscaper in his hometown of Austin, TX. Things are going well until he fronts the money for his friend, X-ray who has a "get-rich-quick" scheme by scalping tickets to a concert to a teenage pop star, Kaira De Leon.
As you might have guessed things do not More...

The sequel to Holes is a much simpler story. Theodore (aka "Armpit") has been out of Camp Greenlake for two years and is doing his best to get his life back on track. He's going to school and he's got a job and he's saving his money. It's not easy for a black teenager with a criminal record, though. No one seems to trust him, not even his own parents. Theodore is frustrated, but he's doing his best. That is, until one of his old friends from camp breezes into town and convinces him to get involv More...

Armpit is saving money by doing landscaping work. X-Ray comes to him with an idea that could double his money by scalping tickets. Armpit reluctantly agrees, but after they purchase the tickets, he has second thoughts: what if he doesn't get his money back? From there, the plot becomes more and complicated — and exciting.

This book had me on the edge of my seat most of the way. My heart beat faster as I was worried about Armpit and the other characters, and what would happen to them. Every time I More...

Great book! Wanted to rate 4.5 stars but Goodreads won't let me. It read just as well as the original Holes (probably my favorite book besides H2G2), but didn't force itself to be a "sequel" (which it isn't).

The only thing keeping it from 5 stars was that I felt that it should have been about two chapters longer, with a more complete epilogue of the story. Everything kind of just wrapped up at the end, and it felt rushed. In Holes, the story was fully closed out, and everything was resolved. In More...

It’s difficult having a bad reputation, especially when you’re willing to turn your life around. Theodore, “Armpit”, is trying to do this. Armpit is trying to take small steps toward success. When he returns from Camp Green Lake, which was a punishment for his previous crime, he wants to succeed in life but no one can trust him anymore except his next door younger neighbor named Ginny, who has cerebral palsy. Then, his friend from Camp Green Lake, “X-Ray”, tells Armpit of a way to make tons of m More...

So I could not place this under realistic fiction, because I just do not think the plot of this book has even a chance of happening. At first, I had a hard time getting into this book. It took me a few chapters, but then it just flew. Well up until near the end. Then it was too hard to suspend my disbelief that finishing the book became pretty difficult. Circumstances were either too convenient or too unconvenient. Also, the actions of some characters made me think that it was impossible someone More...

I loved Holes and this book was a kind of sequal, following Armpit and X-ray. It was a good story. I read it because my son checked it out and I was interested and he was reading something else first. And I'm glad I read it before him because now he's not going to. At least not for a few (hm, maybe 8) years. One of the hard things with having an advanced reader is finding subject matter that is appropriate. (I'll take suggestions, he doesn't usually like mine) which is why I was okay with this b More...

This sequel to Holes focuses on Armpit, a character first introduced in the original novel. While this was an intriguing piece that deals with issues of trying to earn redemption and respect from people who are supposed to give it to you (like family), I felt it was not quite as good as the original. Of course, to be fair, Holes was an amazing novel which weaved three seemingly totally different plot lines in three completely different settings together into one smooth, compelling and entertaini More...