Holes

Author: Louis Sachar
Publisher: Yearling
Copyright Date: 1998
Number of Pages: 236
Reading Level: Ages 9-12






Summary
Stanley Yelnats and all of the guys in his family from generation to generation have been under a curse. Stanley's great great grandfather sought help from a gypsy named Madam Zeroni. She gave him a young piglet so that he could marry the woman that he desired. However, she made him promise that after the piglet was big and he was strong he would carry her up the mountain so that she could drink of the water and be made strong too. When the woman he desired was revealed to be unworthy of his hand he left on a ship to America immediately and forgot to carry her up the mountain. In return, Madam Zeroni lay the curse on him and his children, and his children's children. Stanley was thus under the same curse that his great great grandfather had been under. This curse caused great misfortune for his family. One day Stanley was walking home from school when a pair of tennis-shoes fell from the sky and hit him. At the time his father was working on an invention to recycle old smelly shoes. Stanley thought that these shoes were the smelliest he'd ever smelled so he was going to bring them home to his father. Unfortunately for him, the shoes had been stolen and Stanley was believed to be the thief, and so he was convicted of the crime. Stanley was sent to Camp Green Lake, a camp that is used as a detention center for young boys that commit crimes. While at this camp Stanley is forced to dig holes every day. Here at the camp everything falls into place. The warden of the camp appears to be looking for something and when Stanley finds an object that looks like a bullet the warden gets overly excited. Stanley has been told the stories of Kissing Kate Barlow because one of his relatives was robbed by her. Stanley figures out what the warden was looking for, Kate Barlow's stolen treasure. Another boy at the camp, Zero, is found to be the great great grandson of the same Madam Zeroni that put the curse on Stanley and his family. In the end Stanley carries zero up to the top of God's thumb where Zero drinks the water and Stanley sings the song. The curse is gone, and Stanley doesn't realize this until they return to the camp. Zero and Stanley dig their last hole in the middle of the night. Stanley had remembered the hole that he found the mysterious bullet, which turned out to be Kate Barlow's lip stick. After they dig through the night they find a chest, but right after they get it out, while they're still in the hole, the warden and her counselors find them. Thankfully, yellow spotted lizards, which are very deadly, were seen in the hole and the warden could not get the treasure without disturbing them. Stanley and Zero were not killed because they had eaten onions for several days on top of God's Thumb. Stanley's lawyer came, and Zero pointed out that the treasure chest had Stanley's name on it. Stanley and Zero went back to Stanley's home and his family was made wealthy and his father had great success with his inventions. Zero was able to find his mother. The camp was turned into a girls camp and the warden was found out.

Personal Response
I had read Holes before but I really enjoyed reading it again. This story was amazingly well written and I believe that it deserved the Newbery medal that it received. Louis Sachar intricately weaved the details into the story and no one detail was unimportant. I really enjoyed the style of writing that was unique to this story.

Potential Problems
One of the counselors in Holes is absolutely brutal to Zero, one of the boys at camp. This book may not be appropriate for younger children because of that cruelty. Also, it refers to hanging a black man for kissing a white woman.

Recommended to...
I would recommend this book to any child of the ages between 9 and 12. This is a great book for boys and girls of that age group, although I think it would be more appropriate for the older ages.