Holes

Author: Louis Sachar

Publishing:  Yearling Books

Number of Pages: Paperback—240 pages

Genre: Fantasy

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary:  This book is about a boy who has always had bad luck because of a curse put on his family, Stanley Yelnats, who goes to “Camp Green Lake” after he is wrongly accused of stealing a pair of shoes.  At this camp the boys are forced to dig one hole a day.  Stanley starts making some friends at the camp and even gets his own nickname: Caveman.  At one point Caveman finds a tube of lipstick that has the initials “K.B.” on it but he gives it to the group leader, X-Ray so he can stay on good terms with him.  The Warden makes them dig around where the tube was supposedly found, but they don’t find anything more.  He ends up making a deal with his friend Zero that if he will help him dig his whole then he will teach zero how to read and write.  Caveman and Zero get in trouble and Zero takes off into the empty desert.  Caveman, in an effort to save Zero, goes after him.  He finds him and they travel together to what looks like God’s thumb.  Stanley has to carry Zero because he becomes so weak (Zero’s real name is Hector Zeroni, and the curse could only be broken if a Yelnats carries a Zeroni up the mountain, although Hector and Stanley do not know this).  They survive for a while on the onions that they found on the top of “God’s Thumb” and then they decide to dig one last hole—the place where the tube really was found.  They end up digging up a chest that says Stanley Yelnats on it.  The warden tries to get it from him but he manages to hold onto it and Stanley is able to go home and Hector goes with him.  The camp is shut down, Hector finds his mom, the curse is forever broken, and both the Yelnats family and the Zeroni family become rich from the contents of the buried chest.

My Reaction to the Book:  I really loved this book.  I had seen the movie before I read the book, and I really liked the movie so I knew the book would be great.  I had a hard time putting the book down, I often stayed up quite late reading it just because I wanted to keep going and see what happens. 

Potential Problems:  This book may have a little too much suspense for some children as yellow-spotted lizards cause instant death.  Also when Zero runs away and no one knows if he is alive.  And then when Stanley and Zero are out of food and water and in desperate need to find some.  Also Kissin’ Kate Barlow murders people to get revenge on the people that killed Sam.  These may pose as problems for some children.

Recommendations:  I would recommend this book to anyone.  It was just such a great fantasy and taught some valuable lessons.  I will definitely be reading it to my children.