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Holes (Holes #1)

by Louis Sachar

3.91 · rating details · 115,605 ratings · 6,269 reviews

Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the warden makes the boys "build character" by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and f...more

Paperback, 272 pages

Published August 14th 2001 by Random House Children's Books (first published August 20th 1998)

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Jan 12, 2012

Tanu Das rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: children-lit, favorite-protagonist, favorite, excellent-prose, well-developed-plot, the-eternal-quest, suspense-mystery, short-and-sweet

No wonder this book has got a Newberry Award. Its 200 something pages of pure awesomeness! By beautifully executing such an ingenious concept, Louis Sachar has made me his fan.

Stanley Yelnats is an over sized preteen who is falsely accused of stealing. He is provided with the option to choose between jail and camp green lake. Stanley is not well of, and has never been to camp, so his choice is obvious. Unfortunately though, Camp green lake is not the usual camp. He gets his fair sha...more

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Feb 05, 2008

Mary Taitt rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: anyone

Recommended to Mary by: Erwin

Shelves: young-adult

Holes, by Louis Sachar, 5/5. It was really good; I loved it. It's a young adult novel from which a movie was made. I have not seen the movie, but I hope to. The book is a Newberry Award Winner.

Stanley Yelnats is falsely accused of stealing a pair of sneakers and set to Camp Green Lake, for criminal boys. To build character, the boys get up at 4:30 every morning and dig holes--big holes. If they find anything unusual, they are supposed to report it. But the warden isn't looking...more

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Jun 01, 2008

Chris rated it

· review of another edition

I was picking up some books at the resale shop and for some reason found myself browsing in the children’s books. It seemed like the usual fare at first, some Dr. Seuss, a mangy copy of a Clifford book, a few ratty Choose Your Own Adventure paperbacks, Hugh Hefner’s autobiography, some smut called “The Very Virile Viking”, and “Pimp” by Iceberg Slim. Tucked amongst all this tawdry trash was something called “Holes”, which seemed to make sense sandwiched between “Pimp” and Hef’s life saga.
...moreI was picking up some books at the resale shop and for some reason found myself browsing in the children’s books. It seemed like the usual fare at first, some Dr. Seuss, a mangy copy of a Clifford book, a few ratty Choose Your Own Adventure paperbacks, Hugh Hefner’s autobiography, some smut called “The Very Virile Viking”, and “Pimp” by Iceberg Slim. Tucked amongst all this tawdry trash was something called “Holes”, which seemed to make sense sandwiched between “Pimp” and Hef’s life saga.

I soon realized that there was a movie based on this book made a few years back, which I had never bothered with, but, to my shock and awe, “Holes” was the work of Louis “Sideways-Stories” Sachar. As a long-time fan of the preposterous “Wayside School” stories, I immediately picked this up (along with the other aforementioned books) and decided to bump it up on my to-read list. I had no idea Sachar had even done any other work, and I was interested to see what he’d bring to the table.

I have to admit, I wasn’t nearly as impressed with “Holes” as I thought I might be. This might be due to the unrealistically high expectations I had based on my previous Sachar experience, or the fact that since they took the time and bankroll to make a movie based off this work, it obviously had to be incredible.

The palindromically-named Stanley Yelnats is a good-spirited and festively plump little kid who is shipped off to a boy’s reform program at Camp Green Lake as punishment for stealing a pair of shoes being donated to charity by Clyde “Sweet Feet” Livingston. However, poor Stanley never stole the shoes, he’s been wrongfully accused, which is something he’s accustomed to, since his family is under the influence of a malevolent gypsy curse which began due to an oversight by his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. This evil hex has brought misery and financial ruin to the Yelnats clan since it was first laid, and each male heir to the Yelnats throne vainly hopes to be the one to break this vicious cycle. It isn’t looking too promising for Stanley to be the chosen one, as he’s shipped off to Camp Green Lake, which is the dusty basin of a once-flourishing lake which has since dried up under the scorching desert sun. His duty at the Camp is torturous; each day he must wake up at cock-crow and dig a hole five feet deep by five feet wide, while eluding the venomous yellow-spotted lizards which infest the area. Spitting in each completed hole is optional, and Stanley opts for this luxury at the insistence of his peers.

The narrative of Stanley’s troubles at the camp are intertwined with the background of how this dread gypsy curse came about and also with the story of “Kissing” Katie Barlow, an outlaw that robbed his great-grandfather. While Stanley toils to dig hole after hole under the strict rule of the Warden and her lackeys (Mr. Pendanski and Mr. Sir), the tale of the curse unfolds, in which his great-great-grandfather Elya is vying for the hand of wealthy hottie Myra back in their motherland of Latvia. In order to win her hand, Myra’s father stipulates that the stud who presents the choicest pig as a gift will get the girl (which I hear is still a popular practice back in Riga), which leads Elya into cahoots with the gypsy, Madame Zeroni. Things take a turn for the worse for Elya, and he ends up not only forgetting to perform a favor for the gypsy, but he also gives away the hog as a wedding present to his rival. Even more spectacular is the downfall of the kind-hearted Katie Barlow, a benevolent teacher who begins an interracial relationship with an onionmonger named Sam in the Green Lake area. The ignorant townsfolk don’t cotton to this pairing and end up killing Sam (and his onion-chomping mule, Mary Lou), which leads the once-peaceful teacher to life as an outlaw. Barlow also happened to rob Stanley’s great-grandfather, and before kicking the bucket, she ended up burying all her ill-gotten gains somewhere in the parched and dry bowl of the former lake, a treasure yet to be unearthed that the Warden presumably is trying to locate with all this absurd hole-digging.

The story is pretty enjoyable, for the most part it follows in the silly tradition of the Sachar work I am familiar with, however, the fact that he had to throw a ‘message’ in there pretty much turned me off. Stanley and his fellow detainees at the Camp are a motley bunch, a mixed-race group of transgressors who are coming to terms with their own cultural identities. When Stanley makes an arrangement with black camper Zero to teach him to read in exchange for his labor, the others drop some ‘slave’ references. The saga of Katie Barlow and Sam, however, far eclipses this childish prattle, and firmly beats the reader of the head with the ‘love-your-brother’-stick. At one point, Sachar even states that god himself punished the intolerant populous of Green Lake using the 100 year drought that turned a thriving lake into a dust bowl. The whole race relations bit was generally annoying, and perhaps what might have bothered me most was that in his preaching, Sachar makes it clear how wrong it is to consider someone of color illiterate, stupid, or treacherous, but it’s fully acceptable to include the stereotype of a curse-casting gypsy thrown into the storyline.

Overall, the story comes together predictably and nicely, but the insistence with which Sachar clubbed me over the head with his ‘message’ bothered me.
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May 30, 2011

Ranee rated it

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I knew of a friend who lost everything when her father started digging holes. You see, her dad was a treasure hunter. And to be a treasure hunter, you are supposed to be well equipped and with good manpower. You must also be in possession of a reliable map and a lot of time. You also need a lot of money to be able to acquire all the above things. Unfortunately, my friend's father only acquired a fake map, swindlers for company and equipment worth nothing when you're digging the wrong hole...moreI knew of a friend who lost everything when her father started digging holes. You see, her dad was a treasure hunter. And to be a treasure hunter, you are supposed to be well equipped and with good manpower. You must also be in possession of a reliable map and a lot of time. You also need a lot of money to be able to acquire all the above things. Unfortunately, my friend's father only acquired a fake map, swindlers for company and equipment worth nothing when you're digging the wrong hole. Little by little, my friend's dad used up all their savings and even lost his time for their family. My friend and her siblings grew up and away from their dad. All was lost, true. All that was left is a hole in my friend's heart. There was once a treasure there, I am sure but her father dug too deep it failed to see it sparkle.

The Hole I've read however is not my friend's story. It did not have a treasure map but it has a great plot. It did talk of treasures, the more obvious would be the one buried. There's a treasure in the form of friendship, one covered in perseverance and another enclosed with hope. If you add a bit of dust of fate with these treasures, you will get the story of a boy named Stanley Yelnats, the main protagonist in this novel.

I liked the presentation of the story- the interconnectedness of their experiences. It's an application of Newton's 3rd law of motion (which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction). Just like how someone else's athlete's foot become the reason for another's sweet riches; how the despair of having been bullied be the same reason for his freedom; or how being the teacher, he actually got the better lesson, more than he has bargained for. Stanley did that and in the end he gained friends and respect. All in all, Holes is not about big excavations, it's about filling the gaps. It talked about racism, crossing beyond borders. It talked about family and camaraderie. It talked about keeping your promises and breaking barriers. It talked about being a better person. And yes, even added the perks of enjoying a big onion bulb.

When someone digs a hole out there in the vast universe, there'd be a lot of soil/dirt displaced. Imagine them as stories unburdened from some remote keeper. So what do we do with these soil/dirt/story? We place them inside our own gaps, enriching us such that our hole becomes full, we come out as a whole person.

PS.
IF you wonder about my friend, last time I've heard, their parents are together again. He quit hunting for treasures and stuck with those that are far more precious, his own family.
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Oct 09, 2010

Becky rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, owned, 2010, reviewed

Funny story: I'm trying to shelve this book, and can't remember if it had been banned (but I thought it had - google confirmed). At the same time, my friend Allison and I are chatting on Google Chat, and she starts ranting about how ridiculous book banning is (an opinion with which I agree wholeheartedly). Anyway, the conversation went like this:

me: Is Holes a banned book? I can't remember
allison: dunno... the whole concept of banned books is stupid. I mean, you could find a...moreFunny story: I'm trying to shelve this book, and can't remember if it had been banned (but I thought it had - google confirmed). At the same time, my friend Allison and I are chatting on Google Chat, and she starts ranting about how ridiculous book banning is (an opinion with which I agree wholeheartedly). Anyway, the conversation went like this:

me: Is Holes a banned book? I can't remember
allison: dunno... the whole concept of banned books is stupid. I mean, you could find a reason to gripe about any book
me: yes, I agree
allison: I think The Replacement should be banned because there is a scene talking about knives in the kitchen
allison: VIOLENCE
me: haha just wait
allison: and he sits on his roof
allison: DANGEROUS BEHAVIOR
allison: RECKLESS
me: He says the F word, and there are BOOBIES!
allison: PORNOGRAPHY
me: IMMORALITY!
allison: lol
allison: or you could go the other way and be totally ridiculous
allison: Holes doesn't directly support a gay lifestyle
allison: BAN IT
me: But it does...
allison: oh well then uh...
me: all those boys are in and out of holes all day long

Needless to say, there was laughter. Sometimes I crack myself up.

Anyway, all witty repartee aside, I really liked this book. I have no idea why it would have been banned unless it was because a kid hits a jerk in the face with a shovel for being a complete ass to him day in and day out? That's probably it. ENCOURAGING VIOLENT BEHAVIOR AND DISRESPECT FOR AUTHORITY! BAN IT!

I loved Stanley, but in all truth, I loved Zero more. He was the star of this show for me. I wanted everything to work out for him, and I was on pins and needles worrying about him when things started to go bad for him. I mean, these kids committed crimes, or at least they were accused of committing crimes, but they weren't BAD or EVIL. Punishment is one thing, but the kind of things that these kids were made to do is nothing short of abuse. And what's sad is that probably isn't a far stretch from what really happens - although probably for different reasons.

I enjoyed how the three different storylines all came together in this one, and seeing the little bits of each one felt like discovering a gem. I'd have this, "OH!" moment each time something was revealed that linked something else... Really fun to read.

I really enjoyed this one, and I look forward to seeing the movie soon, since I hear from Allison that it's fabulous. :)(less)

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Mar 17, 2009

Jennifer rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2001, ya

I read this while working at the bookstore. People kept coming in and saying "Do you have that book - Holes?" and finally I signed out a copy and read it to see what all the fuss was. It was a really good read! I immediatly understood why everyone was making a fuss over the book and why it was going to be made into a movie. (I never did see the movie.)

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Nov 15, 2008

Heather rated it

· review of another edition

I thought this author did an especially clever job on the way he set up the story. He flipped back-and-forth between generations, never getting confusing, never giving information too soon, never giving information too late. This was very fun to read.

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Apr 11, 2008

Anna Aguirre rated it

· review of another edition

Love, love, love! Kids love it, too. A great novel about inner strength and persistence.

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Jan 19, 2012

Mary JL rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone age 11 on up

Recommended to Mary JL by: Several recommendations on GR

Shelves: young-adult-children

I know this book won the Newberry Medal--and other awards. But I must review my books for me--I rate it a very good, strong 3 stars but no higher. Defintely worth reading for anyone, however. I also freely admit--had I read this at age 12, I would have rated it four stars.

First, tops marks to the author for interlinking two stories--Stanley's incarceration at Camp Green Lake and the earler tale of Kate Barlow. The matching and interweaving of the two plot lines is well done.
...more

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Jan 14, 2008

Evan R. rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Evan by: A teacher a long long time ago

This is a great book. I loved it, just the writing and the descriptions made it great. The plot is about a kid named Stanley Yelnats who has had bad luck running in his family for years. One day stanley is at the wrong place at the wrong time and gets accused of stealing a famous athletes shoes. The next thing you know hes at camp green lake digging 4 by 4 foot holes everyday. He gets a lot of tough love at first but overcomes it in the end. After going to camp greenlake the Yelnats streak of b...more

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Nov 12, 2008

Chris rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: kids-books

Digging holes (5 feet deep by 5 feet wide) in the middle of the dessert sounds quite pointless. Especially to Stanley Yelnats. He was sent to camp for a crime he never committed.

While at camp, Stanley learns of the history of camp, and why the delinquents are digging the holes.

Louis Sachar is a fun author to read. I read this story outloud to my children, and they enjoyed it as much as I did. I would highly recommend this book to everyone who wants an easy, enjoya...more

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Sep 14, 2008

Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!* rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star-books, books-for-school, favorites

Holes is one of my favorite books of all time. The whole thing is just so clever. The writing style is simple, but not boring. Every character is amazingly developed and believable. I like how the story of the present and the story of the past connect to each other perfectly in the end. And the movie version is really good, too! I highly suggest this book to everyone.

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Jan 20, 2011

Jenny rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Jenny by: John

Shelves: story

Holes won the Newbery Medal and is written by one of my favorite children’s authors. I was shocked by the violent imagery, the graphic mention of blood (holding their bloodied caps against shovel handles because their blisters are rupturing) and surprised by the outright commentary on racism and miscegenation. Similar to Cat’s Eye, it shows the psychological darkness of the social hierarchy of adolescents except with boys instead of girls. Who put X-Ray in charge of the gang? Why do they defer t...more

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Mar 13, 2009

Amanda rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Amanda by: nobody

I saw this book in my sister's old room and thought "why not?" because I've seen this story all over the place and know that a movie was even made of it. So I thought I'd try it out and I loved it. Very easy to read. Very interesting right from the first couple of chapters. I read it very quickly, too, because I had to find out what happened. Now I have to see the movie.

The story is about this kid named Stanley Yelnats (notice his last name is his first name spelled backwa...more

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Oct 13, 2010

KristenR rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: children-ya, read-with-maya

I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but it seems I'm no longer absolutely cool in my daughter's eyes. I could understand if her particular issues with me were current fashion or "the" things to do while hanging out with friends, but books? BOOKS?!? Oh, the pain!

I don't say anything about the girly girl preteen drivel she loves to read (after all, I occasionally read girly girl grownup drivel) and I recommend a wide range of books (while keeping in mind she doesn't have...more

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Apr 23, 2009

3Malik rated it

· review of another edition

Summary- Holes was a book about a family that was cursed by a gypsy because of Stanley's great great great Pig stealing Grandpa. Stanley's dad is trying to make a formula that will get rid of the smell of very old worn out sneakers. Stanley's family curse is making them unsuccessful in what he trying to do. Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake because he was accused of stealing from an orphanage. He met Zero at the Camp. Zero ran away fro the camp Stanley went after him. Stanley didn't know Zero ...more Summary- Holes was a book about a family that was cursed by a gypsy because of Stanley's great great great Pig stealing Grandpa. Stanley's dad is trying to make a formula that will get rid of the smell of very old worn out sneakers. Stanley's family curse is making them unsuccessful in what he trying to do. Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake because he was accused of stealing from an orphanage. He met Zero at the Camp. Zero ran away fro the camp Stanley went after him. Stanley didn't know Zero was the great great great grandson of the gypsy that put the curse on Stanley family. Stanley great great grandfather had the to carry the gypsy up the mountain and sing to her a special song. Stanley carried Zero up the mountain and sang the special song and the curse was broken. Stanley's father found out the formula and his family became very rich for that.
Summary- Holes was a book about a family that was cursed by a gypsy because of Stanley's great great great Pig stealing Grandpa. Stanley's dad is trying to make a formula that will get rid of the smell of very old worn out sneakers. Stanley's family curse is making them unsuccessful in what he trying to do. Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake because he was accused of stealing from an orphanage. He met Zero at the Camp. Zero ran away fro the camp Stanley went after him. Stanley didn't know Zero was the great great great grandson of the gypsy that put the curse on Stanley family. Stanley great great grandfather had the to carry the gypsy up the mountain and sing to her a special song. Stanley carried Zero up the mountain and sang the special song and the curse was broken. Stanley's father found out the formula and his family became very rich for that.

Sometimes reading a book you didn't chose yourself can be a good book for you to read. "Holes" was that book; a good book even though I didn't chose to read this book because it was a class project. Holes had a lot to deal with race because the white man didn't like the black man. Justice was passed throughout the whole book. Justice was taken into the hands of normal citizens as well as the government. There were many fantastical elements to this book "Holes".

Holes had a great deal of racism in it. Sam the black man in the book but the love of Kate Barlow. Sam was a very handy man that had respect for the white folk but they had no respect for him. Sam would give the white person a potion that would heal Yellow Spotted Lizard bites but that wasn't enough for them. Sam kissed a white woman, Kate. Charles Walker and his friends killed Sam for that because he loved Kate but she didn't love him. Kate Barlow went rogue and turned into a violent outlaw by the name of Kissing Kate. She would steal away from people and anyone that got in her way she killed and then kissed them on the forehead.

Justice was another great element of "Holes". Stanley and Zero were the two in the book who justice was enforced on. Zero went to camp Green Lake because he stole some sneakers that were very valuable and Stanley was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Stanley was wrongly accused but it broke the curse off his family by meeting Zero or Hector Zeroni. Kate Barlow took from anyone she felt like but their was no justice enforced on her because no one could catch her.

Holes had a lot of fantastical elements inside the book. Stanley's great great grandfather stole a pig from Madam Zeroni and so the generations after his great great grandfather had a curse on them until Stanley broke the curse by carrying Hector up the mountain and singing that special song and the curse broke.
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Nov 01, 2010

Noah rated it

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Holes:
Summer, or Death Camp???
Would you rather go to Camp Greenlake, or Juvy? Stanley Yelnats picked Camp, but at the time, he didn’t know what he signed up for. In Holes by Louis Sachar, Stanley Yelnats had the choice to go to Camp Greenlake, or a juvenile detention center. Of course he chose camp, but at the time he didn’t know what this camp was. He gets to this “camp”, a dry desert with no lake at all. As he steps off the prison bus, he sees large holes everywhere as far as he cou...moreHoles:
Summer, or Death Camp???
Would you rather go to Camp Greenlake, or Juvy? Stanley Yelnats picked Camp, but at the time, he didn’t know what he signed up for. In Holes by Louis Sachar, Stanley Yelnats had the choice to go to Camp Greenlake, or a juvenile detention center. Of course he chose camp, but at the time he didn’t know what this camp was. He gets to this “camp”, a dry desert with no lake at all. As he steps off the prison bus, he sees large holes everywhere as far as he could see. He walks into his cabin and finds his cabin mates. All of them have nicknames named X-ray, or Zigzag, or a boy Zero who doesn’t talk much. He learns from them that every day, he has to dig one of those holes. Will out of shape, over weight Stanley survive in this big desert wasteland? Read the book to find out. Holes is a great book because it captivates your mind, it makes you feel like a part of it, and there are many unexpected events.
When a book makes you think about its content, it gets in your mind more than it does if you are just reading words. It also makes it very hard to put down because it stays in your head so you want to find out more. Part of why it’s a big part is that it makes you think about connections between the story and your life, or different parts of the story. An example of that is how there are flashbacks that tell the story of Stanley’s ancestors and the old town of Greenlake. This makes you think about how what’s going on in the present of the story is related to the flashbacks, like when Zero found The Mary Lou, which was a characters boat from the old town of Greenlake. That made me excited to read on and see how the rest of the stories come together.
When characters are described well and their emotions are shown to the reader you can get into and feel like you are inside that story. The reason for this is that some books are about kids that you can relate to. This could be physically or emotionally. If it were a physical connection, it means you do some of the dame things and like the same things, which is a big connection. But an emotional relation is a deeper connection, one where the feelings of you and the character are alike. This can make you feel angry when he is angry or sad when he is sad, and so on. In this book I was entranced by the calm but very detailed story. I also felt the connection of me to Stanley when he was tired and overwhelmed by this new place. Big changes can overwhelm me too.
Last, Unexpected events make reading a book worthwhile. If there were no surprises, there would be no exciting parts of the story. If you are playing a soccer game and you know that the score will be 3-0, then what’s the fun of playing? Without that slight mystery involved, it would be a duller book. One part of the book that I thought was a good event that I couldn’t see coming was when he was about to pass out from dehydration and he was hiking up a mountain when he ran out of energy. “As he lay down in the muddy ditch, he didn’t know if he’d ever get up again. Had he come all this way to… Wait! You need water to make mud!” after that he was able to find water and he lived. This was unexpected because he is tired, about to pass out with no food or water, and then he finds the substance that saves his life! This made that part of the story exciting because you didn’t know it was coming. Another one was when he was digging on his third day and he fount a golden pen cap. This was unexpected because not many people had found very many interesting things, let alone gold!
Holes is a great book because it captivates your mind, it makes you feel like a part of it, and there are many unexpected events. I felt connected to this book because these kids are around my age and Stanley has some of the same qualities and emotions that I do. Also another connection is how the bad children at Camp Greenlake act towards one another. It is a brotherly relationship just like my friends and I have. As I read this book, I figured out that even in hard times, people will be there for you. Not only that, but when you and some of your friends are in a bad situation, if you stick together and make the best of it, It won’t be as bad as you thought.

THIS IS MY REVISED VERSION:

Holes:
Summer, or Death Camp???
Would you rather go to Camp Greenlake, or Juvy? Stanley Yelnats picked camp, but at the time, he didn’t know what he signed up for. In Holes, by Louis Sachar, Stanley Yelnats had the choice to go to Camp Greenlake, or a juvenile detention center. Of course he chose camp because Camp Greenlake sounds like a friendly place, but at the time he didn’t know what this camp was. He takes a long bus ride. Then he gets to this “camp”, a dry desert with no lake at all. As he steps off the prison bus, he sees large holes everywhere as far as he could see. He walks into his cabin and finds his cabin mates. All of them have nicknames named X-ray, or Zigzag, or a boy Zero who doesn’t talk much and they tell him that every day, he has to dig one of those large holes. Will out of shape, over weight Stanley survive in this big desert wasteland? Read the book to find out. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars, because I really liked it but it’s not my favorite book. Holes is a great book because it captivates your mind, it makes you feel like a part of it, and there are many unexpected events.
First, Holes is a great book because it captivates your mind. When a book makes you think about its content, it gets in your mind more than it does if you are just reading words. It also makes it very hard to put down because it stays in your head so you want to find out more. Part of why it’s a big part is that it makes you think about connections between the story and your life, or different parts of the story. An example of that is how there are flashbacks that tell the story of Stanley’s ancestors and the old town of Greenlake. The chapters This makes you think about how what’s going on in the present of the story is related to the flashbacks, like when Zero found The Mary Lou, which was a characters boat from the old town of Greenlake. That made me excited to read on and see how the rest of the stories come together. Another way is how later in the book, Stanley and Zero find the onions up by god’s thumb rock after they leave camp. This makes you think about the connection between man Sam from the old town of Green Lake, and his magical healing onions. The onions that Stanley found helped them get over their sicknesses so maybe those were the onions that Sam had been selling. Maybe that’s why Sam’s sunken boat the Mary Lou was on Stanley’s and Zero’s way to God’s thumb. This captivates your mind because you can think about it and get excited when you figure something out.
Next, Holes makes you feel like you are part of it. When characters are described well and their emotions are shown to the reader you can get into the book and feel like you are inside that story. One reason for this is that some books are about kids that you can relate to. This could be physically or emotionally. If it were a physical connection, it means you do some of the dame things and like the same things, which is a big connection. But an emotional relation is a deeper connection, one where the feelings of you and the character are alike. This can make you feel angry when he is angry or sad when he is sad, and so on. In this book I was entranced by the calm but very detailed story. I also felt the connection of me to Stanley when he was tired and overwhelmed by this new place. Big changes can overwhelm me too. Also how he made friends easily and stuck up for the one that everyone picks on, Zero. I like to stick up for people too and I make friends easily. Another way is that you could believe that the story is true because you get really into it. This happens to me a lot, when I read a good book and I feel like I am watching everything that is happening from above and that I am a narrarator. This makes it good because it means that you are not just reading the book to read it and you are reading it because you enjoy it. I felt like this as I was reading Holes, which is one reason why I liked it. One other thing is that
Last, Holes is a great book because it has many unexpected events. Unexpected events make reading a book worthwhile. If there were no surprises, there would be no exciting parts of the story. If you are playing a soccer game and you know that the final score will be 3-0, then what’s the fun of playing? Without that slight mystery involved, it would be a duller book. Just like with a soccer game if you know for a fact that you will lose, then you won’t play your hardest or enjoy it as much. One part of the book that I thought was a good event that I couldn’t see coming was when he was about to pass out from dehydration and he was hiking up a mountain when he ran out of energy, “As he lay down in the muddy ditch, he didn’t know if he’d ever get up again. Had he come all this way to… Wait! You need water to make mud!” (149). After that, he was able to find water and he lived. This was unexpected because he is tired, about to pass out with no food or water, and then he finds the substance that saves his life! This made that part of the story exciting because you didn’t know it was coming. Then, since at this point, I was very into the book as I was reading it, my heart was pounding and I didn’t know what was going to happen, and feared the worst. Another unexpected event was when he was digging on his third day and he fount a golden pen cap. This was unexpected because not many people had found very many interesting things, let alone gold! A last way that this happened was when the famous baseball player, Clyde Livingston’s shoes fell out of nowhere into Stanley’s arms and caused Stanley to go to court, and eventually Camp Green Lake. This was an unexpected event to Stanley and without that weird event happening to Stanley, there would have been a completely different story. That is if there even was another story about him!
Holes is a great book because it captivates your mind, it makes you feel like a part of it, and there are many unexpected events. I felt connected to this book because these kids are around my age and Stanley has some of the same qualities and emotions that I do. Also another connection is how the juvenile children at Camp Greenlake act towards one another. It is a brotherly relationship just like my friends and I have. I also had a few closer connections. The first is with Stanley being determined to last at camp and not let himself feel down. When I went to camp for the first time for 4 weeks, I was homesick a lot but I was determined to not let that ruin my time at this great camp. Instead of letting myself not enjoy camp and feeling sorry for myself the whole time, I decided to have fun and make friends so that when I went again, I would have an amazing time, which I did. Also, In the book, Stanley makes a trade with Zero, teaching him how to read and write, in exchange for some hole digging help. This is like me because I like helping people, but I also don’t enjoy hard physical work much so I would do the exact same thing, but I wouldn’t force the other person to dig a hole just like Stanley didn’t. As I read this book, I figured out that even in hard times, people will be there for you. Not only that, but when you and some of your friends are in a bad situation, if you stick together and make the best of it, It won’t be as bad as you thought.

(less)

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Oct 17, 2008

Keli rated it

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Shelves: newberry-award-honor, tween, juvenile, lis-565

Synopsis

Cursed with his family's bad luck, Stanley Yelantis is convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sent to Green Lake Camp boy's detention center. Every day the boys are sent to dig holes to build character. However, Stanley begins to discover that there's more than character development going on at Camp Green Lake.

Review

When this book was sitting at the top of my reading pile, my step-son gasped, "OMIGOD! I've read that book, like, fifty times."...more

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Apr 16, 2008

Kali saint added it · review of another edition

It is a good book it is one of the best books i ever read.

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Dec 06, 2009

Giovanni Rodriguez rated it

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The book I read second was Holes by Louis Sachar. I felt really sorry for Stanley for having to go to jail for something he hadnt done. Stanley had an option of either going to jail or going to a camp named "camp green lake". Stanley was accused for stealing some rare serious cleats that were donated to an orphanage by Clyde Livingston who was a famous baseball player. This book is also a movie that is just as good as the book however the book has more things that the movie does not ...moreThe book I read second was Holes by Louis Sachar. I felt really sorry for Stanley for having to go to jail for something he hadnt done. Stanley had an option of either going to jail or going to a camp named "camp green lake". Stanley was accused for stealing some rare serious cleats that were donated to an orphanage by Clyde Livingston who was a famous baseball player. This book is also a movie that is just as good as the book however the book has more things that the movie does not have like what Stanley had done at school before getting arested later that day. Stanley had to take a bus taht would take him to the camp that was 8 hours away. When Stanley got to Camp green lake he asked the police officer " so where's the lake?" since everything was like a dry wasteland. The setting is really visual especially if you have seen both the movie and have read the book in the book you can really visualize the setting especially when the book says " Everything looked like a dry wasteland and their was hardly anything gree there were only two trees that had a hammock in between them but in front of that was a cabin". An example of visual were the yellow spotted lizard's you could just imagine how dangerous the smalll things are you can really imagine the spots on the lizards.

The different characters were really impportant especially when Stanley got to the camp. There were many people there one was not the nicest guy to Stanley his nick name was X-ray. Everyday all the boys where in the hot sun digging a 5 foot deep and wide hole if the guys happened to find anything interesting they would get the day off. Thats when X-ray was telling Stanley "if you find anything interesting you have to give it to me I have been here over 4 months and I haven't found anything no one has,why should you get a day off when you just got here its only fair right?". That's when Stanley got worried.

I really enjoyed the book I especially like how Louis Sachar uses literary terms in his words its incredible how he is so detailed in his work. Also its really interesting what the same and what is different in the book and the movie. A lot of people should see which they enjoy the most. Im sure people can compare to the text not really going to jail but being punished for something you didnt do. I have a brother and a sister that are both young so of course my mom believes them
instead of me.An example is once my sister spilled a galon of milk and my sister said it was me so I had to clean the mess and walk to the store to buy more milk. This book is really entertaing book to read its one of the few that I have actually liked and really enjoyed reading. Im sure that if you have read the book and liked it you will enjoy the movie too.(less)

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Nov 04, 2008

Jin rated it

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Shelves: quarter-1

This is my favorite book of all those boring books that I read so far. Even though I have to flip back to pages to remind myself I have read because the author had written the book in a complicated form. For example, the author wrote Stanley Yelnets’s story in a chapter, and someone else’s the next. Then, the author combines all the stories at the end. This story is about Stanley IV in Camp Green Lake, where he has to dig holes as punishment for stealing a pair of shoes which he didn’t steal. Ca...more

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Apr 27, 2008

Tim rated it

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Holes is about a young teenaged boy who is overweight named Stanley Yelnats. Stanley is accused of stealing a celebrity basketball players shoes, and is sent to Camp Green Lake. The kids at Camp Green Lake are ordered to dig a five foot by five foot hole every day. Getting to know the other kids and digging these holes every day isn’t all of it. The authoritative Warden and her helpers Mr. Sir and Mr. Pendanski say digging all of these holes is to build character, but Stanley thinks they are ly...more

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Jan 14, 2008

Drew rated it

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Recommends it for: fiction lovers

When I read this book By: Louis Sachar, called "Holes" I had people look at it a and tell me "oh thats such a good book" and "The movie is great" and they would comment on the award it won and how it won book of the year and all of that. All of this is the main reason that I read the book. Well I am going to o a short review on the book to show what I thought of the book and its sucess.

The novel's plot I thought was not that good I goes back and forth in...more

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Aug 21, 2007

Jennie rated it

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Shelves: nonrequired-work-reading

Stanley Yelnats didn’t steal that pair of sneakers. They really did fall from the sky and hit him on the head. Sadly, the judge doesn’t believe him so he’s sent to Camp Green Lake for eighteen months. It was either that, or jail. Stanley blames the curse put on his great-great grandfather–the Yelnats family has been doomed to bad luck ever since then! The warden at Camp Green Lake is looking for something, so everyday the “campers” have to dig a hole that’s exactly five feet wide and five feet d...more

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Mar 17, 2009

Beth F. rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, young-adult, tnbbc-spring-2009

Great little book! If my future children are readers, this is definitely one I'd like to set in front of them.

The main character, Stanley Yelnats, is wrongly accused of stealing a pair of sneakers. And when it comes right down to it, he's not all that surprised that something like that would have happened to him thanks to a generational curse that has affected his family going all the way back to a promise broken by his great-great grandfather. Through an unusual set of circumst...more

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Dec 29, 2008

Paulo Flores Chico rated it

· review of another edition

If you don't know this, I love young adult novels. This one especially. It might seem like just another book about young boys dealing with pride, losers versus bullies, loyalty and masculinity. But there's actually really cute and romantic story in it all.

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Oct 15, 2008

Tamra rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: people who like light, uplifting books

This is a fantastic book! I watched the movie first and it made me want to read the book. ... I knew people who had read the book and then didn't like the movie because, of course, "the book was better".

Well, guess what: the book IS the movie. They are the same almost word-for-word. One of the biggest differences: Stanley is overweight in the book, and he's a stick in the movie. If that's the biggest difference, why again are we whining about it?

One th...more

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Jan 12, 2009

Samantha rated it

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I love this book. its a book on Stanley Yelnats and he has to go to camp which he decides to do. which is the one that i would choose over juvie. He gets cought for steeling micheal jordans shoes which was not true. so he has to go to camp for something he didnt do which is totally not far at all. This book is about a boy acussed of something that he didnt do and he has two choices either to go to juvie or camp green lake. He chooses the camp. So he goes there and he meets the boy who got him in...more

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Mar 27, 2009

Ladygaga/stefani Germanotta(official) rated it

· review of another edition

absolutlty amazing i love it O M G have you seen the movie? i mean very great.i read it not to long ago and the main charactor is so important to the stary i think it is great

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Jan 06, 2009

Jensownzoo rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2009-reads

I loved how all the pieces of this book eventually dovetailed together. Now I'd like to see how they did with the movie.

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Did you like the movie better than the book?	58	220	Jan 27, 2012 06:02am
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About Louis Sachar

Louis Sachar (pronounced Sacker), born March 20, 1954, is an American author of children's books.

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Quotes from Holes

“I'm not saying it's going to be easy. Nothing in life is easy. But that's no reason to give up. You'll be surprised what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it.After all, you only have one life, so you should try to make the most of it.” — 161 people liked it

“If only, if only," the woodpecker sighs,/ "The bark on the tree was as soft as the skies."/ While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely,/ Crying to the moo-oo-oon,/ If only, If only.” — 97 people liked it

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