Title: Holes

Author: Louis Sachar

Reading level: Ages 9-12

Paperback: 233 pages

Publisher: Dell Yearling (May 2000) An imprint of Random House Children’s Books

ISBN: 0-440-41480-6

For the last couple of months I’ve been reviewing past and current Nebery Medal winners. Holes is the 1999 Nebery Medal winner and joins the ranks of classic children’s literature. The story begins on a negative note because Stanley Yelnats, the main character, is arrested. Soon Holes becomes a story of friendship, family loyalty and yes, love. The Yelnats family has always had bad luck or at least Stanley has been told to believe it until he unknowingly conquers a family curse. I caught myself laughing out loud a few times as well. The reader can also learn a thing or two about onions.

Stanley Yelnats was wrongly convicted of stealing a pair of sneakers belonging to a famous basketball player who donated them to charity. Stanley claimed they fell from the sky and hit him on the head. He also blamed his “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather.” The judge gave Stanley the choice of going to jail or Camp Green Lake. It was an easy choice for Stanley because his family was poor and he had never been to camp. Unfortunately, Camp Green Lake was not the kind of camp young innocent kids would go to. There was no lake at Camp Green Lake. It was a juvenile detention facility.

Holes is full of humor and irony. “If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy.” Thus goes the philosophy of Camp Green Lake. Stanley soon figures out that he and the other boys are not digging holes in the largest dry lake in Texas to build character. They are digging holes to find a treasure the Warden believes was lost by one of her ancestors. The dual yet parallel plots from the past to the future and back again involve ancestors of Stanley Yelnats, the Warden, Mr. Sir and Zero Zeroni. Sachar writes a masterpiece and, when all the pieces come together, the reader says “Wow.”

I highly recommend this book for parents and children ages eight and older.

About the Author: Louis Sachar was born on 20 March 1954, in East Meadow, New York. In 1976, he went to the University of California, where he studied economics. While at university he became a teacher’s aide to gain extra credit; it turned out to be his favorite class and inspired him to write children’s books. After graduation he worked in a sweater warehouse in Connecticut and wrote at night. After he was fired from that job he moved on to law school. In his first week of study, Sideways Stories from Wayside was published. After completing his studies in 1980 he became a part-time lawyer but was compelled to concentrate on his writing full-time.

Louis Sachar lives in Austin, Texas.

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Carma Dutra is the owner of Carma’s Word, a creative writing and editing service a freelance writer and children’s writer. Visit her blog at http://carmaswindow.blogspot.com to read about tips on writing, author interviews, and a variety of topics regarding children.