Synopses & Reviews
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 warden makes the boys "build character" by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. 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. Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment and redemption.
Review
"Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this rugged, engrossing adventure." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Sachar inserts humor that gives the suspense steep edges; the tone is as full of surprises as the plot....[N]othing is quite what it seems in this wildly inventive novel." Betsy Hearne, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"We haven't seen a book with this much plot, so suspensefully and expertly deployed, in too long a time. And the ending will make you cheer....Louis Sachar has long been a great and deserved favorite among children, despite the benign neglect of critics." Horn Book
Review
"This delightfully clever story is well-crafted and thought-provoking, with a bit of a folklore thrown in for good measure." Mary Ann Capan, VOYA
Review
"Long before there was Holes the movie, there was Holes the book, and readers had fallen in love with Louis Sachar's interwoven tales of exploited kids, poisonous lizards, interracial love, smelly feet, and, of course, Stanley Yelnats's no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. 'Every little piece fits together,' says Frances Foster, Sachar's editor. 'There's enormous satisfaction in reading that kind of story.'"
Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor (read the entire CSM review)
Synopsis
The National Book Award and Newbery Medal-winning novel is the basis for Walt Disney's motion picture adaptation, starring Shia Le Bouf and Sigourney Weaver. Believing his family is under a curse, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a harsh correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.
About the Author
Louis Sachar's popular books include
There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom and
Dogs Don't Tell Jokes.
From the Paperback edition.
Kids Q&A
Read the Kids' Q&A with Louis Sachar