Book Review of 'Holes' by Louis Sachar

Premise:

Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys’ detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes.

It doesn’t take long for Stanley to realize there’s more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption. 

Quirky and Inventive

This humorous story is about a boy named Stanley Yelnats who is wrongly accused of stealing the shoes of a famous baseball player who was planning to donate them to charity. As punishment, Stanley is sent to a juvenile detention center found in a wasteland desert in the middle of nowhere. It is called - ironically - Camp Green Lake, where they “build character” by digging holes each day, exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. 
However, Stanley soon realizes that the real reason the Warden has them dig holes is because she’s looking for something. But why would anything be buried under a dried-up lake? 
My favorite part of the book is how the plot following Stanley and the plot following flashbacks of Stanley’s ancestor tie in together. This book has a sequel called ‘Small Steps’, which follows the story of a side character from ‘Holes’. The theme of this book could be consequences of the choices you make, or the importance of friendship. The grade level for this book is grades 4-8 and is plot driven. The chapters are short, between 3 and 5 pages long. On a scale of one through five, I would rate this book 5 stars.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

- Candria


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