Module 3: Holes

Book Summary: This is a realistic fiction book  about a boy name Stanley Yalnets (which is Stanley spelled backwards) who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  He ends up having to go to Camp Green Lake where all they do is dig holes in the hot desert sun.  He really is a good kid, but with the family curse on his back he seems to find himself in trouble at the oddest times.  While at the camp he encounters other young boys who are there for doing things they should not have and ends up finding friendship with the quietest person of his group, Zero.  One day Zero runs away after an incident and Stanley feels bad because he was protecting him from the group's bullies.  Stanley decides to go and search for Zero and when he finds him they have to lean on each other for support to make it through the desert heat.  With no water or food, they luck upon a cliff that looks like God's Thumb and they find sweet onions.  They also find water, that has dirt in it but helps them out none the less.  In the end the decide to go back to camp to get more food and water and find the rest of the treasure that Stanley found before escaping.  When they return they are caught by the Warden after finding a suitcase that belonged to Stanley's long lost uncle.  Stanley is released from the camp along with Zero, because his attorney found out that he was not guilty of his crime.  In the end he found a good friend and learned some valuable lessons on life and roughing it on your own.

Reference: Sachar, L. (1998). Holes. New York, NY: Random House Inc.

Impression: I thought this book was brilliant and I could not put it down from the moment I started reading.  The characters are believable and you can relate to each ones problems and faults.  Stanley is a kid who you hear about being bullied but he seems to muster through the his day to day activities. He blames his bad occurrences on the bad karma of his family.

The author does well with using language that is challenging, yet familiar for the age range that would read this novel.  He introduces concepts and problems that occur if you are put in a predicament that may not be in your favor.

There are not any illustrations in the books but the description of the character, setting, and mood is so elaborate that you can visualize each scene in your mind. You can feel the heat of the sun beating on your neck and the panic of someone chasing you from the way the Sachar describes the actions.

Overall, I would recommend this book the ages 9-12, grades 4-8.

Professional Reviews:

Amazon.com Review
"If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy." Such is the reigning philosophy at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention facility where there is no lake, and there are no happy campers. In place of what used to be "the largest lake in Texas" is now a dry, flat, sunburned wasteland, pocked with countless identical holes dug by boys improving their character. Stanley Yelnats, of palindromic name and ill-fated pedigree, has landed at Camp Green Lake because it seemed a better option than jail. No matter that his conviction was all a case of mistaken identity, the Yelnats family has become accustomed to a long history of bad luck, thanks to their "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather!" Despite his innocence, Stanley is quickly enmeshed in the Camp Green Lake routine: rising before dawn to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet in diameter; learning how to get along with the Lord of the Flies-styled pack of boys in Group D; and fearing the warden, who paints her fingernails with rattlesnake venom. But when Stanley realizes that the boys may not just be digging to build character--that in fact the warden is seeking something specific--the plot gets as thick as the irony.

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

From Publishers Weekly

PW's starred review of the 1999 Newbery Medal winner described it as a "dazzling blend of social commentary, tall tale and magic realism." Ages 10-up. (May)

Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus ReviewSentenced to a brutal juvenile detention camp for a crime he didn't commit, a wimpy teenager turns four generations of bad family luck around in this sunburnt tale of courage, obsession, and buried treasure from Sachar (Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, 1995, etc.). Driven mad by the murder of her black beau, a schoolteacher turns on the once-friendly, verdant town of Green Lake, Texas, becomes feared bandit Kissin' Kate Barlow, and dies, laughing, without revealing where she buried her stash. A century of rainless years later, lake and town are memories--but, with the involuntary help of gangs of juvenile offenders, the last descendant of the last residents is still digging. Enter Stanley Yelnats IV, great-grandson of one of Kissin' Kate's victims and the latest to fall to the family curse of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; under the direction of The Warden, a woman with rattlesnake venom polish on her long nails, Stanley and each of his fellow inmates dig a hole a day in the rock-hard lake bed. Weeks of punishing labor later, Stanley digs up a clue, but is canny enough to conceal the information of which hole it came from. Through flashbacks, Sachar weaves a complex net of hidden relationships and well-timed revelations as he puts his slightly larger-than-life characters under a sun so punishing that readers will be reaching for water bottles. Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this rugged, engrossing adventure.

References:

Davis, B. (n.d.). [Review of the book Holes, by L. Sachar]. Amazon.com. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Holes-Louis-Sachar/dp/0440414806/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437276432&sr=8-1&keywords=holes

Holes. (2000). [Review of the book Holes, by L. Sachar]. Publishers weekly. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8072-8162-8

Kirkus Reviews. (2010). [Review of the book Holes, by L, Sachar]. Kirkus reviews. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/louis-sachar/holes/

Library Uses:
This book could be a tool to showcase during Bulling Week or Red Ribbon Week where you are promoting kindness towards others in the school.