Holes

A Review by Daniel

Holes, by Louis Sachar, was published in 1998 by the American publishing company Scholastic. Holes has been awarded the John Newberry Medal "For the Most Distinguished Contribution to American Literature for Children".

Holes is a story about a boy named Stanley Yelnat (Yelnats is Stanley spelled backwards) and his stay at a boy's detention center named Camp Green Lake. Stanley was wrongly accused of stealing the shoes (which were for sale at an auction for a large sum of money) of a famous public figure. Stanley blames this rotten luck on a curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. At Camp Green Lake (there's not actually a lake there, it dried up long ago; and there are also very few green plants at the camp for lack of rainfall) Stanley and his campmates are required to dig holes that are exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. The boys are told that they are digging the holes to build character however Stanley thinks there may be more to it. Perhaps they're really actually looking for something... but what could it be?

There is also a great film adaptation of Holes. The movies is very well done, very true to the book. Holes is definitely worth reading, and the movie is definitely worth seeing.

Author: Louis Sachar
Number of Pages: 233
Publication Date: 1998
Rating: 4.5/5
Age Recommendation: 11+
Purchase This Book