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What Members Thought
I think of Louis Sachar as the guy who wrote the Wayside School books - a comedy guy. Holes isn't a funny book, though - the humor is there, but it's subtle and understated beneath a dramatic tale. The book tells the story of a boy, Stanley Yelnats, who is wrongly convicted of stealing and is given the choice between jail and a stint at a correctional camp. He chooses the camp, where he quickly learns that each day is to be spent digging holes, one per day per camper, each hole five feet wide by
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I started out reading this book so I could get a better sense of what books some of my intermediate EFL students might be able to read, and mostly viewed it as a professional task. At first it was cheesy/campy and I couldn't wait to be done with it, but somewhere around halfway in, I started to get really into the story and wanted to know what happened to Stanley (and then later, Zero, too). There's good suspense and I liked the way you see the two stories tie together, with connections revealed
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Stanley is sent to a teenage labor camp in the middle of the Texas desert for a crime he didn't commit. He learns how to dig holes, makes friends, and looks for a mysterious treasure.
I enjoyed this a lot - I hadn't seen the movie so it was all completely new for me. There are parallel stories told throughout the book about Stanley's family history that inform the main story and were definitely the most entertaining parts of the book. I could easily read a whole series of books about the outlaw K ...more
I enjoyed this a lot - I hadn't seen the movie so it was all completely new for me. There are parallel stories told throughout the book about Stanley's family history that inform the main story and were definitely the most entertaining parts of the book. I could easily read a whole series of books about the outlaw K ...more
Juvenile offenders sentenced to a camp spend all their time digging. The warden is looking for something. Two boys receive an education, one in book learning, the other in confidence building.
I can't believe I missed this classic. It's exactly the right sort of book- smart but accessible for young readers. Not obvious, but not overdrawn. Excellent characters, even the ones who don't need full fleshing out. This is a gem.
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Newbery Medal, 1999
I have loved Sachar ever since Sideways Stories from Wayside School, and this book did not disappoint. Funny, full of mystery, never a dull moment. And I loved how everything came full circle. A great and fast read!
"Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather..."
An inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime, punishment and redemption. ...more
An inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime, punishment and redemption. ...more
Mar 21, 2013
taeli
marked it as to-read
Jan 25, 2014
Lynne
marked it as to-read-ya
Apr 20, 2015
erinsabs
marked it as to-read
Aug 22, 2017
Dina
marked it as to-read
Nov 15, 2019
Becca
marked it as to-read
