Title: Holes by Louis Sachar

Pages: 233

Genres: Childrens/Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction

Published by: Scholastic (Aug. 20, 1998)

Summary
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 Yelnatses. 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.

 

What I Thought

I just have to say, I can’t believe I didn’t read this book sooner!  I first saw the movie back when it originally came out and absolutely loved it.  I’ve seen it many times since then.  So, the book has always been on my radar, and sort of on my TBR, but it was just one of those books that I always thought about reading but never actually bought or got around to.  Then, this spring I saw it at my library’s book sale for $0.25, so naturally, I finally bought it and read it, and I’m so glad I did.

I absolutely adored this book and everything about it!  It was filled with so much adventure and mystery and the story line was just incredibly well done.  I loved the alternating perspectives from the past Green Lake and the present.  Holes is one of those books that is so well thought out.  Having seen the movie (which I might add is a quite faithful adaptation with only few differences), I knew what was going to happen, so I was really able to focus on the little details of the story, and I loved watching everything come together.  Every single detail was so interconnected between the past and the present, and it just made this book So. Good!

The characters were also phenomenal.  Stanley grew so much as a character, and I love how it was done so subtly.  He didn’t just wake up a new person one day, it was a slight, day by day change that was so realistic.  I also loved seeing Zero grow and learn to stand up for himself.  I also really appreciated how diverse all the characters were.  This was something I never really thought about before when I had seen the movie, but many of the characters come from such different and diverse backgrounds.

Honestly, I don’t even know what else to say about this book other than the fact that I loved it and wish that I had read it sooner.  I only finished this book about a week and a half ago, and I already want to reread it.  This sounds so over dramatic, but honestly, right after I finished reading Holes, I low-key wanted to start rereading it right then and there.

Overall, I would recommend this book to basically everyone, but especially to fans of the movie, and all kids age 8-14 (but seriously, even if you’re an adult, go read it!).