#1342 in our old book database. Rated: Good.
#266 for Adele. Rated: Good. ( )

I had 2 people (adults) tell me they really loved this book.[return]It's different, very readable but a new look at some old memes (bullying of fat kids, juvenile delinquents) in a setting that would not pass a social services review. This is not a reality-based book, yet Sachar does a great job of portraying the thought processes of this 5th grader. I like how the back story is tied in, and how all these disparate people's lives come together in one place. ( )

i was first introduced to this book in year 7 (!!) and fell victim to heavily judging it by its cover. once we got into it in class, however i loved it. the switches between generations felt so seamless and i think at the age i would have really appreciated the many plot twists to keep my attention on all the action. ( )

Great book! Sure to hook in the most reluctant readers. Sachar is a master of blending different timelines together in a way that keeps you hooked. Excellent foreshadowing, excellent themes.

A boy named Stanley is imprisoned in a juvenile correctional facility, where the inmates are forced to dig a hole in the desert every day, apparently as a character-building punishment. Stanley, who is actually innocent of the theft he was convicted for, has to adapt and survive, until he finds clues that make him think there's a purpose behind making them dig the desert everyday. At the same time, we follow events in the life of the ancestors of some of the characters that help us understand what's going on.

The beginning is very grounded and makes you get easily into the story, and once the more far-fetched, fairy-tale-like elements start you easily accept them because you are already invested in the characters. The story ties all the narrative lines beautifully, making this one of the greatest YA stories for boys. This is one of those books that you can hand to a reluctant reader, confident that he'll enjoy it. ( )

1st read: Long ago
2nd read: December 2023 ( )

"Holes" by Louis Sachar is an exciting story about a boy named Stanley Yelnats who finds himself in a tough spot at a place called Camp Green Lake, where he and other boys have to dig holes in the desert. It's a tale filled with surprises and interesting characters, showing how Stanley faces challenges and learns important lessons about friendship and fairness. This book is great for students because it's easy to get into and has lots of twists and turns to keep you hooked. Teachers can use it to talk about important stuff like how we treat others and what it means to do the right thing, while also helping students practice reading and thinking carefully about what they've read. ( )

What a fabulous book. An intricate story spanning decades. A likable protagonist who grows in a convincing way. Villains and danger and even buried treasure. What’s not to love? ( )

This novel truly holds up through time. I loved this book as a kid but haven’t read it for YEARS, and was pleasantly surprised to see it was just as good as I remember. The writing, characters, story- all excellent and highly re-readable. ( )

Stanley is under a curse all because of his great-great-grandfather being a thief. Stanley gets sent to a detention center, where he has to dig holes all day. The holes have to be exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There are holes everywhere. Stanley thnks the boys at the detention center have to dig holes as a punishment. However, he soon learns that he has to dig holes because the warden is looking for something. What could it be? Read this story to find out the truth behind the holes in this dark tale about crime and punishment. ( )

I love Holes it's a classic for me. I read it again for the first time in a long time and I read it with my roommates, while we didn't say much about it, it was fun for me because people I know read a book I love. ( )

The Shawshank Redemption for kids. ( )

A rollicking good story that comes together into a great ending. ( )

(4.5 / 5)

This is the story about 2 curses that come together in a place called Camp Green Lake, where there is no lake. Teenage boys are sent there for rehabilitation in the form of digging a hole the depth and width of their shovel every day. The camp’s newest inmate, Stanley Yelnats, quickly realizes there’s more to the hole-digging than character-building, but can he dig up the truth?

I like this book so much. I remember watching this movie about a year after it first came out, going into it without any clue what it was about. I was an adult, so not exactly the age group that the book was intended for, but I’ve never had a problem watching or reading things for a younger audience. I enjoyed the movie, and still do to this day. A few years after watching the movie, I found the book at a garage sale or thrift store or something like that, and picked it up. I’ve read it a few times, so this was a re-read, at least 10 years since the previous times I read it.

The way the author brought basically three different stories together, and in a really interesting and even believable way is so fun to follow along with. This book takes the idea of coincidence in storytelling (which is normally better to avoid) and embraces it to the point of being so well connected, you’re excited to see how the coincidences come together.

The kids are just trying to get by in conditions that definitely make it clear that the justice system has failed them, but they still have heart. The adults at the camp are apparently all terrible people, right down to the counselors who aren’t in the story much, which I think is a little unrealistic.

Since I saw the movie before reading the book, and have watched the movie several times now, of course I pictured the characters as they were portrayed in the movie, but I like the casting, so this isn’t a problem for me. There are some differences in the movie, a few things added to the movie, and of course some extra details removed, but overall, it is incredibly similar. My biggest issue with the book is that it is wrapped up awkwardly. There’s not a lot of closure. The movie did this better (even if a slight bit less realistically).

Overall, Holes is a fun, edgy book for kids approximately 8-12 years of age, but really can be appreciated by older people as well. The culmination of the different storylines in the latter half of the book is a lot of fun to discover, and I recommend it for all. ( )

Phenomenal book. I was working in a school library when this was published and I couldn't believe how many parents did not want their children reading this book. The circumstances can be viewed as saddening, perhaps even depressing, but the will to continue day-by-day, and to overcome odds was so uniquely portrayed! ( )

Many moons ago in my youth, the movie adaption of this book was a staple in my elementary school. Shockingly, we were never forced to read the novel, but lucky for me as an adult I finally found the book and decided to pick it up.

This book is so fun and would have been an excellent classic read back in my school days. Regardless, this book is still fun as an adult. Middle graders can enjoy the fun, learn a few lessons, and try to patch together the mystery behind the story as they read along.

I want to read the sequel (I never knew there was one!) and I will definitely want to pick up more books by Louis Sachar in the future. This book is a gem for middle grade readers who want a fun story that also has a great lesson about honesty.

Three out of five stars. ( )

This is book 1. The second book is titled "Small Steps."

This is book 1. The second book is titled "Small Steps."

Book 1. The second book is titled "Small Steps."

Holes is a classic YA book that most kids have probably heard of just because of the movie. It follows similar to the movie but has differences that stand out. The book starts with the main character at the wrong place at the wrong time. This leads him to the camp where he meets Hector or better known as zero and the story truly begins.

Holes is one of those YA books that is quirky and surreal in a way that burrows itself into your subconscious. There are enough off kilter details (onions, yellow-spotted lizards, rattlesnake venom nail polish) that give it a texture not usually found in children's' lit. It has the rare quality of being both nightmarish and humorous. Although child torture and lynching are both featured prominently, it manages to maintain a buoyant tone. I think kids will connect immediately with the feeling of being cursed, of the inherent unfairness of being a kid at the mercy of those (everyone) with more power than you. Sachar's point is that kindness and empathy are the only answer to cruelty and injustice. ( )

I freaking love the movie "Holes." Which is hilarious because I cannot stand Shia Labeof. And Jon Voight looks ridiculous with his mustache. But even from a young age, "Holes" has been a movie I put on time and time again. It had been so long since I had read the book, I felt it was high time to fix that.

A movie's success, for me, is how does it pay homage to the source material. Thankfully, Louis Sachar played a hand in writing the screenplay so I chalk that up to why the movie works so well. It captures the magic that is the book "Holes."

Stanley Yelnats
Camp Green Lake
Hector Zeroni
Sploosh

This words conjure up happy images in my mind. I enjoyed the journey I was taken on, once again, by read Sachar's award winning tale. ( )

A hilarious, heartful, original book about coincidences, fate, karma - call it as you wish. Are you in the wrong place at the wrong time or is it actually the right place at the right time? I loved that both Stanley and Zero were partially Latvians :-) ( )

Thanks to a no good pig stealing ancestor and a family curse of bad luck and being in the wrong place at the wrong time the young Stanley Yelnats finds himself at a twisted correctional camp of hundreds of holes in a dried up lake.
I remember watching the movie adaptation a few times as a kid and liking the movie, but it's been well over a decade since then and I had no real collection of what it was about besides snapshots in my head. Therefore, I wasn't expecting much going into the book but was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked it and how good it is. It weaves together like a good mystery novel and despite it being a kids book, the reveals and links are not made blatant at first, allowing time to appreciate how all the strings tie together yourself before it's laid out. It's a well-crafted story and a pleasure to read. ( )

“If only, if only," the woodpecker sighs,
"The bark on the tree was as soft as the skies."
While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely,
Crying to the moo-oo-oon,
"If only, if only.”

I’m not sure if I’ve ever read Holes by Louis Sachar before, but the kids have me on a “read the book before the movie” kick, and this was the next stop in our list (to be followed by James and The Giant Peach). It is perhaps deeper than it appears on it’s face, far more than it might have seemed to those I read it to.

As children’s books go, it’s not terrible. In fact, it’s pretty good, keeping the littles’ attention, even though it lacks dragons, wizards, magic, or any supernatural elements.

Well, at least any obviously supernatural elements. There certainly is an undercurrent of folk magic, or maybe just fate or karma, that loops through the whole story, providing a setting for Stanley Yelnats (the fifth? Sixth?) to redeem his family’s legacy and free them from a curse that has plagued them for over a century. Stanley is no Harry Potter or Lucy Pevensie, but in many respects far more sympathetic. His parents are both alive and solidly struggling to get ahead, though bad luck seems to plague the family from one generation to the next. Stanley seems, on the face of it, a pretty normal kid, with no special abilities or qualities, except that he is not a criminal, or trouble maker, with anything in common with the juvenile offenders he is tossed in with at Camp Green Lake. With only a few details available to the reader, he initially appears to be nothing more than a kid who may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But there are further details to be learned.

Against this relatively benign background is the far more tragic and, frankly, far more adult story of Green Lake’s history, including the outlaw Kissing Kate Barlow, Sam the Onion Man and his donkey Mary Lou, and the villainous Trout Walker. It almost caught me by surprise to find this lesson on America’s dark history with racism weaved into a children’s story. Our twelve-year old largely sat out this book—she’s less patience with me reading to the kids these days, her own interests in books quickly outpacing the speed I can read, as well as the reading level of her younger sisters—but the lessons might be more apparent to her.

Holes ends on a satisfying note, bringing justice across the generations as Stanley’s natural goodness, his small but kind acts of honesty and individual justice, restore balance and honor to the descendants of those who were unjustly harmed, prejudiced, and, well, murdered. It is something of an interesting thesis: without taking away anything from Stanley, he brings hope and purpose and freedom to those who we might say are unable to bring it to himself, and all without taking away from anything that is justly his. In fact, in bringing justice to Zero, his friend and the scion of the Madame Zeroni’s descendents, he finds a much greater reward for both himself and for Zero. The balancing of the scales means that all are better off, all are more justly rewarded. ( )