Holes

Author: Louis Sachar
Publisher: Yearling
Copyright: 1998
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Pages: 233
Reading Level: Ages (Barnes and Noble)
Summary: This story is about Stanley Yelnats who is cursed with bad luck because of his "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather." The story goes that his relative was supposed to carry a woman named Madame Zeroni up a mountain and never did and so the name was cursed. One day as Stanley was walking home from school, out of nowhere, a pair of shoes fall out of the sky and one hits him on the head. Stanley believes this is a sign from destiny because his dad has been trying to find a use for recycling old sneakers so he takes them home. Later that day he is arrested because it turns out the shoes belonged to a famous baseball player and he had donated them to a shelter to raise money for the shelter. They think that Stanley stole the shoes. So, rather than sending Stanley to prison, they send him to Camp Green Lake, a camp for delinquent boys, which is basically just desert for miles and miles around. There are also poisonous lizards called yellow spotted lizards found only in that area and if you get bit by one, you die.
At the camp, Stanley gets the nickname "Caveman" from the other boys. (They all have nicknames.) Each day at Camp Green Lake, each of the boys has to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet wide. The Warden and all of the other leaders at the camp are cruel. They have informed the boys that if they find anything interesting to give it to the Warden. One day, Stanley finds a gold tube with the initials K.B. on it. One of the other boys convinces Stanley to let him turn the item in because anyone who finds anything interesting gets the rest of the day off. The Warden has them all dig in the hole where the boy says he found it for many days. After a while they go back to their normal holes.
Meanwhile, Stanley befriends a boy named "Zero." Zero's real name is Hector Zeroni. He teaches Zero how to read and write and in exchange, Zero digs part of Stanley's hole each day. Zero is picked on by everyone else at the camp because they all think he is so stupid. One day Zero gets fed up and runs away from the camp. Stanley, afraid that Zero might die, gets mad too a day or two later and runs after Zero. He finds him under an old boat. (A hundred and ten years ago Camp Green Lake used to be the town of Green Lake and there actually used to be a lake there.) One of Stanley's relatives had been left for dead in the same desert years and years ago but he managed to live because of a certain mountain. Stanley and Zero find the mountain ("God's Thumb") but Zero is too sick from eating bad old food that he found in the boat. So Stanley carries him up the mountain where they are able to dig up water and find onions and they live off of that. Once Zero is better, they decide to return to Camp Green Lake and try to find whatever the Warden is trying to find and Stanley knows just where to dig. So they go back at night and dig up a suitcase but they are caught by the Warden and the other leaders. However, the hole they'd been digging in had been a lizard's nest so the leaders don't dare to come near them. After waiting for hours for the threat to go down the attorney general and Stanley's attorney come to pick him up because he's been proven innocent. Turns out the suitcase had Stanley's name on it (the name as been passed down through generations) and they take Stanley and Zero away and they become rich with the treasure in the suitcase. Stanley broke the curse by carrying the relative of Madame Zeroni up the mountain.
Who would you recommend this book to? I would recommend this book to everyone! It's a book that could be enjoyed by adults as well as children!
Potential problems or conflicts: I don't see any potential problems or conflicts with this book.
My reaction: I loved this book! I remember that my teacher read it to us in sixth grade but I didn't really remember much about it and I am so glad I read it again! This book was a lot of fun with great characters and a really fun storyline. This is one of the best books I've read in while. It's definitely on my list of favorites now.