Module 4 (Part 2): Holes by Louis Sachar

Citation:

Sachar, L. (2000). Holes. New York, NY: Yealing.

Summary:

Stanley Yelnats has a family with bad luck, Stanley had the most recent case of it. He was going to a camp in the middle of the dessert because he had been charged and convicted of stealing important shoes. At the camp all they do is dig holes all day in the hot desert heat. Stanley can tell something is wrong with this place. Him and his new and silent friend, Zero, dig into the mystery behind Camp Green Lake.

My Thoughts:

This story is engaging to those of all ages. Stanley and Zero, and their family history make for a fast paced story of grand adventure. This is a story I would recommend to those reluctant readers who like adventurous stories, a story my brother, who hated reading, loved.

Professional Review:

“Gr. 6^-9. Middle-schooler Stanley Yelnats is only the latest in a long line of Yelnats to encounter bad luck, but Stanley's serving of the family curse is a doozie. Wrongfully convicted of stealing a baseball star's sneakers, Stanley is sentenced to six months in a juvenile-detention center, Camp Green Lake. "There is no lake at Camp Green Lake," where Stanley and his fellow campers (imagine the cast from your favorite prison movie, kid version) must dig one five-by-five hole in the dry lake bed every day, ostensibly building character but actually aiding the sicko warden in her search for buried treasure. Sachar's novel mixes comedy, hard-hitting realistic drama, and outrageous fable in a combination that is, at best, unsettling. The comic elements, especially the banter between the boys (part scared teens, part Cool Hand Luke wanna-bes) work well, and the adventure story surrounding Stanley's rescue of his black friend Zero, who attempts to escape, provides both high drama and moving human emotion. But the ending, in which realism gives way to fable, while undeniably clever, seems to belong in another book entirely, dulling the impact of all that has gone before. These mismatched parts don't add up to a coherent whole, but they do deliver a fair share of entertaining and sometimes compelling moments.”

Ott, B. (1998). Holes. The Booklist, 94(19), 1750. Retrieved from https://libproxy.library.unt.edu/login?url=https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2165/docview/235409809?accountid=7113

Library Use:

This is a good summer reading book. Placing it on a list of suggested reads for 5-8^th graders would be ideal, as well as using it in a display of adventurous books.