Review: Holes

Holes – Louis Sachar

published 1998 – 233 pages

From the back cover –

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 Yelnatses.  Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys’ detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day, digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep.  There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.  But there are an awful lot of holes.

It doesn’t take too long for Stanley to realize there’s more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake.  The boys are digging holes because the Warden is looking for something.  But what could be buried under a dried-up lake?  Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment – and redemption.

My thoughts –

I read quite a few of Sachar’s books in elementary school (the Wayside School series were some of my favorite books at the time) but somehow I missed this one along the way.  I’m very happy that I had the chance to pick up Holesnow, as it was a delight to read.  The characters are very likable, especially to a younger audience, and the story moves along very quickly.  I think this book would be especially good for non-readers, boys in particular, because it is very entertaining for all ages.  Also, it was made into a movie (which I have not seen) but I always think it’s fun for kids to compare books to movies – as long as they actually read the book and don’t just go see the movie!  Holes is a very fun story that can easily be enjoyed by kids and adults.

Also reviewed by: Alisonwonderland at So Many Books, So Little Time, Dewey at The Hidden Side of a Leaf, and Jeane at Dog Ear Diary.