Some novels become synonymous with our childhood. There are a bunch of different novels that most of us have grown up with. And the book review today will be for the classic novel Holes by Louis Sachar. Find out why this classic novel is worth reading or rereading if you have already read it!
Holes: Summary
Stanley Yalnets is sent to a juvenile detention camp called Camp Green Lake for stealing a pair of shoes. The shoes fell out of the sky and Stanley figured that the shoes would be useful to his dad who works with shoes. Little did he know that those shoes belonged to a celebrity and he would be accused of stealing them.
Just like everything else bad that has happened to the Yalnets, Stanley blames the bad luck on his great-great-grandfather who was cursed for not keeping his end of the deal. Now, Stanley has to dig holes in the desert with other juveniles.
Digging holes is supposed to straighten out the kids that were sent to Camp Green Lake. But Stanley figures out that the Warden Ms. Walker is searching for something. Why else would they want them to turn in anything they find that is “interesting.”
Stanley makes some friends and learns of the hierarchy in place at the camp. He ends up befriending Zero who “loves to dig holes.” Their friendship grows and brews a storm that turns the camp upside down.
It is up to Stanley to make everything right but with little food and water, what can he possibly do? Stanley has put together enough information and has an idea of what the Warden is searching for and plans to use that to escape once and for all.
Holes: Commentary
This is one of those novels that I read after I saw the movie and enjoyed both formats. Not many books turn into classic movies and you can tell how much effort was put into the movie. If you haven’t seen the movie then you are missing out.
Putting the movie aside, the novel itself is written perfectly for the young adult audience. Even with adult topics, Sachar does a great job of translating it for his geared audience. And not only that, he also creates the children versus adult narrative without being aggressive as future dystopian novels.
Conclusion
I do regret that I didn’t get to read this novel during my teenage years. It would have easily been a book that I enjoyed and would look for similar books as a result. Now this novel is required reading in some schools which is a smart move. I can’t choose a better novel to make teenagers fall in love with reading than this.
Your review of Holes reminded me how So many treasures await in Newberry books. Have you discovered Gary D. Schmidt? I recently found his work and couldn’t stop…this is my favorite:
https://regspittle.com/2021/11/17/for-this-kid-the-worst-bullies-are-at-home/
Thanks for your post and reminder,
Reg
I would hope that schools are making ‘required reading’ decisions based on what would inspire a love of reading for students. When I went to school, decades ago, we were forced to read the driest most painful, literary material available. I have always loved reading – but my school experience tried very hard to destroy that love.
I loved holes. I think I also saw the film before reading the book and I enjoyed both. It was great
I found this to be an excellent book.
I loved this book! The entire premise was creative.
Agree! A fresh plot
I never heard of it but I’ll put it on my list. We didn’t used to read very good books at school. The only decent one I read was The Grapes Of Wrath from John Steinbeck.
I feel obliged to point out you spelt his surname wrong throughout… the whole point of his name is that it’s a palindrome.