Stanley Yelnats is under a curse and it all began with his "no-good-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandpa." Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake for an surprisingly unjust crime. This was a hot, sandy camp where all you do is dig holes and make sure you don't get bitten by a yellow spotted lizard. There used to be a lake but it dried up. Stanley's first few days were not what he expected it to be. The kids treat him like dirt, and you need to build your reputation and earn a nickname. His first friend there was a boy with bushy, curly brown hair named Hector Zeronie. His nickname was Zero. Everybody thought Zero was stupid, but he just didn't want to answer their stupid questions. One day the counselor insulted him and Zero hit him in his face with a shovel, leaving a deep red mark. Then Zero ran away. Everybody thought that Zero couldn't survive in the desert, but Stanley thought he was still alive. So the next day Stanley runs away too. Read the book to find out what happens to Stanley and Zero.

I liked how this book gave a background story about the lake. I also thought it was surprising when I found out that Stanley got sent to camp because of Zero. I would recommend this book to people who like books about friendship and adventure.

Anthony T.
Grade 6
Ms. Kawatachi

Stanley Yelnats IV chooses an 18-month sentence at Camp Green Lake Juvenile Detention Center ("He had never been to camp before.") over jail time for his supposed part in the disappearance of a pair of smelly sneakers belonging to basketball star Clyde "Sweet Feet" Livingston. Said shoes were to be auctioned off to raise money for charity. He arrives only to learn that: there is no lake, nor has there been for over 100 years; breakfast is served daily at 4:30 am; and his punishment includes the daily digging of a hole (five feet in diameter by five feet deep) where midday during the summer it's 95 degrees in the shade. He attributes the bad luck of his capture and conviction to (p 25) "...his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather." The story behind this mantra (used often by the family to explain their misfortune) involves a dimwitted prospective bride and an inadvertently unkept promise. The second subplot concerns the legend of a beloved schoolteacher named Kate Barlow, who lost the admiration of her fans when she found forbidden love. The unlikely plots are interwoven well, right down to story's neatly tied-up ending: a clean, good (but not great) story of friendship, fate and falderal. Better: The Giver by Lois Lowery and Feed by M.T. Anderson.

I bought this book for my son who entered 6th grade this year. It was a mandatory reading grade that had to be done by August 1, 2008. I listened with intent each time he read a chapter to me. Just as he finsihed the book, they actually showed the movie Holes, on television. So, I got to enjoy the book again.

If you compare this book with many other popular books in recent years, Holes is a sure winner. In comparison, The Kite Runner and The Book Thief are just like kid stuff. I really enjoyed reading this book!

although this is a book recommended for middle schoolers, the author does a great job at switching from past to present while maintaining the interest of the reader.....in my opinion, it is not an easy task for adults to stay on track when authors write in this form, however i am impressed with the coherence that the author was able to accomplish this difficult task.

Great book to read to adolescents. Sensitive and practicle. Good fodder to discuss right and wrong. The movie was good too. Not as good as the book of course, but good as well. Teenage boys told me it was a book to read. Short chapters, lots going on keeps the pages turning.

Holes is set primarily in Texas close to the present day (the late 20th Century), although parts of the book flash back to the same area in Texas in the late 19th Century and to the country of Latvia in the late 19th Century as well. The story is told by an all-knowing narrator who guides the story back and forth between the present day situation of the story and two key plot lines about the past. The bulk of the story centers around the main character and protagonist Stanley Yelnats and his life in a boys' juvenile detention center called Camp Green Lake. Stanley has been falsely convicted of a crime and must work hard all day under the hot Texas sun. The boys in the detention center are forced to dig large holes day after day with no other apparent purpose than to "build character." Stanley's family has been under a curse for generations, which began back in the late 19th Century when Stanley's great-great grandfather Elya broke a promise he made to a gypsy woman named Madame Zeroni. A small part of the story that the narrator tells focuses on how this sub-plot developed in the past and how it still affects Stanley and his family today.
The other side-plot of the story focuses on the town of Green Lake, Texas in the late 19th Century, before the lake became dried up and the place became a juvenile detention center. This part of the story deals with the issues of racism and prejudice, and helps to build up the plot for the present day section of the story, where Stanley and the others are at a juvenile detention center. Stanley struggles to make friends and to survive the tough conditions at Camp Green Lake, and he is always battling the larger fight against his family's curse. He and a friend at the camp (named Zero) discover that the camp's warden (a relative or descendant of Charles Walker) is actually making the boys dig holes because she is looking for something valuable. Stanley finds out about his family's history and how his great grandfather's suitcase full of money is buried somewhere in Camp Green Lake. When Stanley's friend Zero escapes from the camp, Stanley escapes as well to go and help him. They figure out that Zero is a direct descendant of the gypsy Madame Zeroni, and so the boys sort of heal that old family rift and thus lift the curse off of Stanley's family. When they return to the camp a week later the boys find the suitcase. The warden tries to take it from them but Stanley's lawyer finally shows up, proves his innocence, and allows Stanley and Zero to leave the detention center (with the suitcase full of money!). The story concludes happily with Stanley and Zero receiving a million dollars each for the stocks and jewels in the suitcase, with the detention center closing down so that a girl scout camp can be built, and with Stanley's father finally creating a cure for foot odor which makes him rich.
There are not many negative aspects to Holes, as it is an excellent read for adults and children alike. One drawback may be that the chapters are very short, spanning two or three pages on average. This makes the story a bit choppy at times as it flips back and forth between the past and the present settings without much warning. Some readers might like the short chapters though, as it keeps the story moving and keeps the reader on his or her toes. I personally think that Holes is a great novel for emerging young readers. It has a rich and complex plot but is not too difficult to read and understand. The author weaves a good mix of humor and fate, and the characters are very realistic and relatable. I like how the characters in the book are diverse and represent different types of kids with different economic and racial backgrounds. Holes is an enjoyable book to read and contains many plot twists and turns that will keep you interested. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in reading it.

"Holes" by Louis Sachar (1998). Random House, Inc: New York. 233 pages. Realistic Fiction. Grade level: 5.30.
Holes is about a boy whose life is affected by the past. Most notably, Stanley Yelnats, has a family curse from his "no-good-dirty-rotten pig stealing great-great-grandfather" who did not carry out a promise to a magic woman. Stanley's family blames most of their problems on this ancestor. Stanley's father is a poor inventor who works hard but has no luck. He is currently working on trying to invent a spray to remove foot odor. One day, Stanley is walking and a pair of sneakers fall from the sky so he naturally takes them home to his father. It turns out, the sneakers were from a famous basketball player who is donating them to charity. Staney is arrested and sent to Camp Greenlake for his punishment and "rehabilitation." Once he gets to the camp in Texas, Stanley quickly realizes that it is not a camp in the typical sense and there is no lake to be found. He is forced to dig one 5 foot by 5 foot hole each day in the scorching heat and report to the warden if he finds anything interesting. He is accompanied by other juvenile offenders who all fend for themselves and try to survive the grueling work and horrible living conditions. There are no fences, because if they ran away they would die in the desert.
The story also goes takes the reader on flashbacks to the time when the area actually was a lake in the early settling times. It was a small town that was an oasis in the middle of the desert. The one-room school house was run by Kate Barlow who happily taught the town's children and adults alike. Kate takes to the town onion seller who happens to be black. This is, of course, unacceptable at the time so the town kills him and runs her out of town. From that point on, she changes and becomes "kissin' Kate Barlow" an outlaw who prays on unsuspecting travelers and kisses them before she kills them. The town's luck and lake run dry and it becomes abandoned. Before she dies, she buries all of her treasure on the grounds of the lake. Stanley's great-grandfather was robbed by Kate Barlow, but not killed. He survived by "God's thumb" and miraculously lived although no one knew what that meant.
Back in present day, Stanley and another boy Zero run away from camp because they are fed up. They know they must go back or they will die. Stanley notices that a mountain nearby looks like a thumb and they decide to see if they can survive there. After days of walking in the desert, with no water and little food, they make it up the mountain. Stanley carries Zero and they discover a spring filled with onions which they eat until they are healthy again. In carrying this boy up the mountain, Stanley reverses his great-great-grandfather's curse. They decide to return to camp to find the buried treasure. When they get there, they find it but are caught. However, it turns out that the treasure is in a case labeled with Stanley's name on it, which was his great-grandfather's. A lawyer comes to get Stanley out of the camp because he is innocent and ends up closing the camp because it is illegal treatment of the boys. Stanley and Zero become rich and Zero finds his mother with his money. In the end, each character gets what they deserved.
I think this book was amazing. It was elaborately interwoven with past and present. It exposes the realities of fate while at the same time showing the strength and necessity of strong moral character. Stanley and Zero learn to believe in themselves. This book is inspiring and very entertaining. My only concern, is that the author could have discussed the racial issues in the story more. There is the interracial relationship in the past with Kate and also the way the boys at the camp relate to each other based on their races. This was not the focus of the book, which is probably why Sachar did not elaborate on these themes but I think it is a valuable subject to expose. Perhaps, it is merely up to the reader/teacher/parent to discuss the interplay of people of different races in the book. Overall, I was very impressed and would recommend this book to anyone of any age.

Title: Holes
Publisher: Dell Yearling
Date: 1998
Reading Level: Approximately 6th grade (According to Fry Readability Formula)
Number of Pages: 233
Genre: Fiction

Main character Stanley Yelnats was convicted of stealing a pair of valuable baseball shoes meant to be donated to a homeless charity. For his crime, he was sentenced to go to Camp Green Lake in order to rehabilitate himself.
At Camp Green Lake, all of the boys are required to dig one hole a day that is exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. When they are done digging their hole, they are allowed to do whatever they want for the rest of the day. But their task is not easy. Camp Green Lake is a barren desert with an unrelenting sun. Each day the campmates wake up at 4:30 am to start digging in the hopes that they will be done before the sun reaches its hottest point of the day.
Three adults run the camp, The Warden, "Mr. Sir", and Mr. Pedanski a.k.a. "Mom". "Mom" stands out as the sympathetic adult, while The Warden and "Mr. Sir" act ruthlessly towards the children of Camp Green Lake.
While there Stanley earns the nickname "Caveman" from his friends and campmates in group D; "X-Ray", "Armpit", "Zero", "Zigzag", "Magnet", and "Twitch". Stanley and "Zero" develop a deep bond after Stanely teaches Zero how to read and write.
Along the way Stanley discovers the real reason why the camp members of Camp Green Lake are digging holes. It in fact has nothing to do with building character, but instead a much more sinister plan cooked up by the Warden.

Though I enjoyed the book overall, there are a few minor set backs in the book. First, author Louis Sachar offers no explanation as to why the Government has decided Camp Green Lake would be an appropriate place for criminal youths to rehabilitate themselves. Given that the Warden's plans have nothing to do with helping these troubled youths, there should have been an explanation as to how the Warden positioned Camp Green Lake as an alternative to prison. Without this important explanation, the book loses points for positing outlandish scenarios as realistic.
Secondly, the book contains a few too many movie friendly cliché scenes. In one example, the members of Group D steal "Mr. Sir's" bag of sunflower seeds. Stanley accidentally drops the bag into his hole. When "Mr. Sir" arrives, he discovers the bag of sunflower seeds and Stanley takes the blame. He is taken to have his first encounter with the Warden in which she tortures Stanley using poison laced fingernail polish. The whole time I was reading this chapter of the book I kept thinking to myself how obvious it was that Stanley was going to get in trouble for taking the sunflower seeds from the very beginning. The chapter was too predictable and made me want to skip over entire paragraphs because I already knew what was going to happen from the very beginning.
Lastly, author Louis Sachar includes racial commentary in a very superficial way. In only a few chapters Sachar alludes to possible racial tensions at Camp Green Lake, but he does not deal with them in a direct way. In fact, he skips them over entirely. In one chapter Stanley wonders to himself if there will be any racial tension at Camp Green Lake. Sachar could have used this opportunity to open a dialogue on the racial structures in America in general and within the U.S. prison system specifically, but he ignores this opportunity by not interjecting any racial problems between the Black, Latino, and White members of Camp Green Lake. Instead, Stanley discovers that racial identity by and large does not exist at Camp Green Lake. This is a truly missed opportunity to add a deeper level of commentary to Holes.
With that said, there were aspects of the book that I did enjoy. The culmination of the separate stories of Kissin' Kate Barlow, Stanley's Great Great Grandpa, and the Stanley at the end of Holes made the story a little more complex. Sachar's interweaving of the past and the present in Holes made the plot much more interesting, while not being overly confusing. Additionally, Sachar's twist surprise ending is not entirely predictable, but will have you going back in the book to review the clues that could have led you to guess the ending of the book.

It's kind of new... but a page is torn in the book that I received.

I have to say that I did not read this book myself, so I won't comment on plot, character, content, etc. but my 10-year-old son read it and absolutely devoured it. I bought it for him to take on a vacation to keep him occupied and gave it to him a few days in advance. Well, the book didn't make it to vacation as he finished it within a couple of days. He enjoyed it thoroughly and now wants to see the movie.

Holes is an absolutely delightful story. It does not fail to show the ugly side of humanity, when friendship and tolerance fail, and the human spirit sinks to ugly levels. Yet it also shows, triumphantly, what happens when friendship and tolerance succeed, when friends stick together, and what can happen when the human spirit overcomes adversity. The characters react believably with their circumstances, and are very likable, strong people. Stanley Yelnats is a terrific guy, believably flawed, yet someone who does the best he can with what he's got. I love this book, and I would highly recommend it.

Good grief there are more than 3,000 reviews on here for this book. I'll add this one to say: I really enjoyed this book, as did my three young children (who read it independently). It's a quick read, accomplished over one airplane flight (with some weather delay . . .). The drama is gripping, and this is one of those stories, usually for young readers, where every element of the plot is connected to some other element of the plot, so that in the end we have a beautiful but ironically resolved tale of justice, friendship, and love. It's a feel good book.
Here's the synopsis: Misfit teenager is sent to a bizarre youth work camp for a crime he did not commit. He works his way into the social network of 'prison life' while enduring the physical and psychological rigors of this strange desert gulag. His personal history is revealed along with elements of his ancestry and the history of the region where the labor camp is located, all of which are relevant to his current situation. Through the inevitable climax, the reader sees all the plot elements come together as our hero and his sidekick effectively overcome the camp conditions, outwit the evil warden, and end up getting filthy rich. If that is not enough, they even gain acquitals for their trumped up crimes.
Recommended for readers "of all ages."

"Well I've never been to camp before." Done your going to Camp Green Lake! It's hot, it's unbearable, it's Holes. Stanley Yelnats, the main character is on his way to a whole different life
Stanley has to go to Camp Green Lake because Stanley was walking down the street one day and these pair of stolen shoes fell in his backpack from above. The police were looking for the expensive shoes, and they found them in his backpack. So, here he is now. "Your not looking for anything you're here to build character." Says one of the mean counselors, named Mr. Sir. The head Warden is a woman, a mean, old, read-headed woman.
Stanley is told a story of Kissen Kate Barlow by one of the people at Camp Green Lake. It goes back in time to tell her story, she is very mysterious. But are Stanley and his friends actually trying to build character, or are they really looking for something?

I really like holes because right when you think you know what's going to happen it suddenly changes, like when one of the counselors is teasing zero, he picks up a shovel and hits the counselor in the face, and runs away. That really surprised me. That is why I like this book. It has so many clues it is kind of like a puzzle, waiting to be solved


I recommend this book to people who like adventure books. This book is for all ages including adults. READ THIS BOOK

Holes, by Louis Sachar, is one of the best books I've ever read. It's exciting, interesting and keeps me turning the pages. Louis Sachar uses really cool characters in the book holes. Here's some of the ones I like: Zero and Stanley. A character I don't like is the warden. She is mean and only cares for herself.
Stanley Yelnats is a bigger kid who gets picked on a lot at school and his father was an inventor. But when a pair of Clyde Livingston's (a baseball player) shoes fall from the sky and hit Stanley on the head, Stanley's life was never the same. The cops caught him for stealing. The cops said he had a choice, go to jail or go to Camp Green Lake. Stanley was going to Camp Green Lake. But there's a small problem, there's no lake! So now Stanley has to dig holes in a really hot desert with lizards that can kill you and diamondback rattlesnakes, Stanley has to be careful.
My favorite part of the book is when Stanley gets in a truck and tries to drive away. I liked it because it was cool and when Stanley tried to drive away he accidentally drove in to a hole. Then Stanley got out of the truck and ran far away.
I thought it was really cool how Louis Sachar changed the time from the present, to a long time before the present. At first I thought the plot was kind of confusing then I got it and thought was really cool. This is what I think helps make the book so good. If you read this book or have read this book, you will probably think so to.
I like a character named Zero. He can dig holes really, really fast. He is always done digging his hole first. But he also doesn't know how to read or write. I also like him because he is nice to Stanley. He also was waiting for his mom one day and she never came back. So I kind of felt bad for him.
I recommend this book to readers who like books when they can't stop turning the pages. There's some action and it's one of the best books I've ever read.

Very well done "kids" book, although certainly not beneath the level of any good novel.

Ending seemed a bit abrupt, but overall good action, dialog, humor, story, pacing. Might even make a good movie (Holes (Widescreen Edition)

I received this book as a Christmas present. The person who gave it to me didn't realize that it falls into the young-adult category of literature, so I don't believe that I am the actual target audience for it (as much as I would like to hang onto my fading youth).

The story reads like a bad 70's prison break made-for-tv movie. Lots of brown dust everywhere. Bad "camp" guards. A mysterious Warden. And the promise of treasure.

What keeps the story going is Sachar's refusal to let the story become a crazy free-for-all that I think a lot of authors would have succumbed to. In one instance, Stanley is tempted to steal a truck, and when he does, instead of driving like a maniac and getting away, he drives right into a hole. Straightforward, logical, and realistic. While the story is pure fantasy, the logic is never bent and the story does really well in this regard.

For the first half of the book, I felt like Sachar was trying to tackle character development by simply telling their biographies, but by the end of the book the character development came of its own accord. The reason he gives the biographies becomes clear (if it wasn't apparent to the reader immediately) as the story comes to its climax and all the loose threads are tied together.

The book tackles all sorts of issues that young adults have to deal with. Not fitting in. Bullying. Racism. Cliquism. Rebellion. School. Friends. Hard work. It really pushes the racism issue, though I found that subplot to be quite unnecessary.

In all, if you are a young reader or want to give one a good book, you wouldn't be making a mistake in passing this one along. I'm not sure the book works outside of its target audience. I liked it enough, but it never stopped "feeling" like a young-adult book. 4 stars, because I think the right audience exists for it (and -1 for anyone who picks it up by accident).

Have you ever had to turn into a camel because of the blazing heat? This is what Stanley Yelnats had to do in the book "Holes" by Louis Sachar. Stanley is put into a detention center at Camp Green Lake and his family is under a curse by his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. This book was very interesting in the way the inmates treated each other because they accepted each other and fought each other. I also thougth this book was dull for one-third of the time because all Stanley and his inmates did was dig Holes. The rest of the book was tremendous reading with tons of adventures. Holes will make the reader want to read more and more until they finish the book. I recommend this book to kids from fifth to eighth grade because I have seen all of those age groups read "Holes." People that would be interested in "Holes" would be the people who like to see the characters' personality change dramatically. This book was average all-in-all and didn't really spark me.

This is one of the best books
I ever read..
It all started with a boy named Stanley who is walking home and these shoes with the marking x on them fall out the sky into Stanley hands. Stanley family has a cruse on it from his great great grandfather. Now Stanley gets caught with those shoes has to go to a camp called Camp Green Lake. When Stanley gets there he gets all type of friends but, at that camp you have to dig holes everyday. There's a reason why they dig though, the warden who runs the camp is looking for buried treasure.
this is a really good book

I watched the movie first and then read the book. I was excited to see that the movie and book were very similar. It was an exciting story!

Holes is a book by Louis Sachar. It is about a boy named Stanley that is accused of stealing a pair of sneakers and is sent to a juvenile camp that is basically all desert. While he is there, he uncovers a few secrets.

My favorite part was when he first goes inside the "rec room." Well let's just say if you are clean around the house, I don't think you would like it. If you are someone who likes mystery and exciting books then you will love this book.

Reviewed by Isabelle

The title of the realistic fiction book I read was Holes. By Louis Sachar. The book is like the movie for the most part but some parts are different.

Holes is about a boy named Stanley Yelnats. He says that these really nice shoes fell from the sky and hit him on the head. The police caught him and soon found out that they were Clyde Livingston's shoes. Clyde was a famous baseball player. The judge later said, "Would you like to go to jail or to Camp Green Lake." Stanley chose Camp Green Lake because he had never been to camp. It was an experience he will probably never forget. The camp was dry and was only a vast expanse of desert. There were a few buildings but nothing to admire. They slept in hard beds in a small room. They only could have about 5 minutes to take a shower. There was a person who came 2-3 times everyday to supply the water. The campers had to dig holes that were the size of their shovel. If they found something that looked to be important then they would have to report it to the head poncho. He had a rough time at the camp but sometimes he got through his struggles. He always claimed that his "no-good-rotten-pig-stealing-great-grandfather" is why he had so much bad luck. The story goes on with great adventures and new secrets to be told. He met a lot of new friends and one friend especially named Zero.


This book was a good book but it wasn't the best book I've ever read. It was kind of slow and boring at some parts. Some of the other parts were interesting and caused anxiety. I think this book is probably best suited for 5th and 6th graders.

The book I'm reviewing is Holes by Louis Sachar. This book deserves 5 stars because it's a fun adventure that has every single little detail in it and the author gives you clues to know things the main character doesn't know. This book is about a boy named Stanley Yelnats and his family's curse. In this book Stanley gets framed by someone that he stole a pair of a famous athlete's shoes that were donated to an orphanage. So, innocent Stanley got sent to a Juv camp, Camp Green Lake, that doesn't have a lake at all. This story is about how Stanley solved his family's curse and how camp green lake got dried out. How did Stanley solve his family curse? Read the book and find out. Other books by this author are the Series of Way Side School.

I just finished reading "Holes" with my son, who had been reading it for school. We are watching the movie as I'm typing this. I am constantly amazed at what a great book this is. It intertwines a current-day story with a story about the main character's ancestors, and the author does this with great skill.

It's the kind of book that you when you finish reading it, you're kind of depressed that not ALL books are this good.

I especially recommend it to kids who aren't that interested in reading. It's not an easy book to read, but it's so enjoyable that you can get kids to push through it, and then by the end when everything is tied up and makes sense, it brings a real sense of accomplishment.

Holes is a book about a young boy named Stanley Yelnats. His whole family is under a "curse" of bad luck. He ends up going to a camp that is just like jail all because he was accused of stealing a pair of shoes that really fell out of the sky. My favorite part of this book is when Stanley gets out of Camp Green Lake. He is so much happier and life is a lot better for him. Also, when his dad makes the cure for smelly feet. After he does that his family doesn't have back luck anymore. Last but no least my favorite part was when Stanley carried his friend Zero up the exact same mountain Stanley's grandfather carried Zero's great great grandmother, Madam Zeroni up the mountain, and he gets a treasure full of money.

Holes is a very interesting and exciting book. It's about a boy named Stanley Yelnats, who is cursed by his no-good-dirty-pig-stealing great grandfather. Stanley is sent to a special camp for bad behaved kids, where he finds treasure. I like the book because it isn't boring and it gets you interested, so I want to read more. Also I like adventures. I recommend this book if you like adventures and if you have seen the movie Holes.

I read this book at the urging of my 7 yr old grandson and didn't expect to be held captive by it. I read until 1 A.M. to finish it. A great read and now I want to see the movie. He has also read all the Harry Potter books and will probably talk me into reading them someday too.

Over 3200 reviews for this book. I would say it is well read.

I came across Louis Sachar's HOLES recently while my daughter and I were browsing books. I hadn't seen the 2003 movie, but remembered the trailers and so, since my daughter had settled down with a book, I decided to read a bit of it. Nine chapters (okay, short chapters) later, I was still going strong when my daughter was ready to go. I was hooked. This is what they call "juvenile fiction," right? If you've ever read Lewis Carroll, you'd have to agree that the term "juvenile fiction" is a very elastic term. Put plainly, the fact that juvenile fiction is (usually?) about children doesn't mean that the style is any way immature or unsophisticated.

HOLES is a story about a middle school-aged boy, Stanley Yelnats, who is falsely charged with and convicted of stealing a pair of celebrity sneakers that had been donated to charity. Yelnats is sentenced to "Camp Lake Green," a boys' detention center and work camp located in the middle of a Texas desert. Camp Lake Green, as it turns out, is a cruel bizarro-world version of a normal summer camp. There is no lake; it dried up decades before. And there is only one activity to speak of: digging holes, one a day, five feet deep and five feet in diameter, ostensibly to build character. There is, however, a mystery behind the digging. The camp's vicious warden wants to be notified of anything "interesting" that's discovered by the boys while digging.

The mystery is literally and figuratively uncovered by Yelnats, whom the other "campers" call "Caveman." The narrator relates vignettes about Yelnats's ancestors; these stories, while interesting in themselves, are also critical to understanding the mystery of the warden's interest in the holes.

Sachar's prose is beautifully astringent; like Hemingway, Sachar rarely employs the unnecessary word. The story and the characters are likewise straightforward: I think that the lack of real ambiguity in the characters' behavior helps younger readers to relate more easily to the people and the events in the book.

As a parent, I would recommend reading the book yourself--if only for your own enjoyment--before encouraging your child to read it. The novel is very dark in some places; the warden, for instance, is particularly sadistic, and doesn't really get her full comeuppance by story's end. But I think HOLES is a terrific story, with memorable characters, and with wonderfully moving, poignant, funny passages. Children over the age of ten (and, well, adults) will, I think, love reading it.

I saw the movie first. I loved it. I laughed, I cried, it moved me. So I decided to read the book.

Of course, if I loved the movie, I had to love the book, because they are exactly the same. This, I must admit, is a little disappointing. I can't deny the exceptional quality of either medium, but, when a movie producer decides to take a really good book in hand and reproduce it for the screen, I like to se him or her take a few artistic liberties. I want to see some kind of significant difference between the original format and the reproduction.

Oh well. I suppose my advice to all is this: choose one or the other. There really isn't much of a point in seeing the movie and reading the book. Sure, there are a few differences (such as the fact that Sachar, in the book, describes Stanley as overweight, which Shia LeBeouf most certainly is not), but they're insignificant to the overall feel.

I read this book to my 9 and 7 year olds. By the middle - we couldn't stop. We were at the beach with several older cousins who had both read the book and seen the movie and they were all sitting around listening. It made them all want to re-read it.

The plot is not hard to follow but is very intertwined. Amazingly so.

Enjoy this book with your kids

Holes
Have you ever been in a place that is super hot well in the book Holes by "Louis Sachar", young boy goes to a camp which is located in the desert. Stanley Yelnats is young boy whom goes to a camp of kids who don't want to go to jail but go to this camp instead. This camp makes all of them boys realize their mistakes. Stanley had to learn how to make friends without him making the wrong friends who might make him somebody he doesn't want. Stanley makes new friends and a lot of money. One dislike of this book is that I didn't really understand if when Madame Loiselle gets to go to the mountain. This book is really is interesting and really funny.

This book has to be one of my favorite books! Although I thought it was a little confusing, I love Holes. Right when I started to read this book, I just fell in love with the characters.

One person and one person only is responsible for Stanley Yelnats going to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention center for "troubled" boys. Or at least that's what the counselor tells him. Stanley was accused of stealing the sneakers donated to a homeless shelter by baseball famous Clyde Livingston, but what they don't know is he's innocent. He thinks that his being at the camp is just part of the curse that has gone through his family for generations. His bad luck is the fault of his no-good dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great grandfather. But that's another story. And so Stanley gets to the camp, gets told the routine at the camp by Mr. Sir. Along with the other boys in the D-tent, Zero, X-Ray, Armpit, Squid, Magnet, and Zigzag. Stanley gets up every day before dawn to dig a hole in the desert (Aka Camp Green Lake) that's five feet in every direction, no more and no less. Though the digging is supposed to be a "character-building" exercise supposedly, the counselors let the boys know that if anyone digs up anything "interesting" they will get a day off with extra shower tokens. A fossil Stanley (Aka Caveman) finds doesn't matter, but a yellow tube with the initials KB does for some reason. With every hole he digs, Stanley comes closer to the reality that KB stands for Kissin Kate Barlow, a school teacher who was forbid to love for a onion seller, who got murdered, turned her into a bad outlaw who roamed the area and kissed men before she killed them but that was back when there was a lake in Green Lake. My favorite part of this book was when Stanley and Zero climbed the huge mountain known as god's thumb and survived on onions, how ironic. This was an awesome book and I would recommend this book to anyone that's interested in mysteries or adventure stories. Even though there's a chapter every 4 pages its still an excellent book and there's no other books like it.

Holes is a story about a kid named Stanley yelnats.He was said to have stolen sneakers of Clyde Livingston,a famous baseball player.He was given the choice of going to jail or camp Green Lake,a camp for bad boys.It was all because of his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealen-great great grandfather.He was said to have stolen a pig from a one legged gypsy.Now because of him he is on a long bus ride to camp Green Lake.The man in charge is Mr.Sir,a mean old guy.Now Stanley has to dig holes every day in the hot hot sun with very little water and food.

The book holes is about a young boy named Stanley yelnats his family was cursed by the madame zeroni an old fortune teller she told stanley's no- good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great great grandfather named "Elya yelnats" that he had to carry madame zeroni's pig to the top of the mountain to get the pig fat and juicy so he could marry this girl named "Myra" her dad wanted Igor to marry his daughter and he didn't want her to marry Elya so Elya carried the pig evey morning to the top of the hill and he promised madame zeroni the he would carry her to the top of the hill and sing her the song she thought him and instead he went to the americas to find madame zeroni's son and so he fgoes to the americas and he falls in love with the girl named Sarah Miller but first he learns to speak english and he translates the song from latvian to english these are some reasons I like this book