“Holes” is a really cool book written by Louis Sachar. It’s won a bunch of big awards like the National Book Award for Children’s Literature and the Newbery Medal. It’s also a New York Times Bestseller, which means a lot of people liked it—and I did too!
The story is about a boy named Stanley Yelnats. His family is poor and they always say their bad luck comes from his “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing” great-great-grandfather. One day, a shoe falls from the sky and hits Stanley on the head. The police think he stole it, even though he didn’t! So he gets sent to Camp Green Lake, which isn’t a lake at all—it’s just a hot, dry desert. At the camp, all the boys have to dig holes every day. Stanley meets a boy named Zero, and they become good friends. Later in the book, they try to escape the camp, but there’s no water anywhere around them, which makes it really dangerous and is hard to escape.
The book goes back and forth between what’s happening with Stanley and stuff that happened a long time ago with his family. At first, it was a little confusing, but later I thought it was really smart how everything connected together. It made the story more interesting, like a puzzle you had to figure out.
I think the author did a great job writing the characters. Stanley changes a lot from the beginning to the end. At first, he’s quiet and just goes along with whatever happens, but later he becomes really brave and stands up for his friend. Zero is also a great character. At first, people think he’s not smart because he doesn’t talk much, but he turns out to be really clever and kind. I liked their friendship a lot — it felt real.
Some parts of the book were funny, and other parts were kind of serious or even sad. I felt a lot of emotions while I was reading it. I’ve also felt like Stanley before, when people blamed me for something I didn’t do, so I could really relate to him.
I would give “Holes” an 8.5 out of 10. Some parts were a little hard to follow because of the time jumps, but it all made sense in the end. I think anyone who likes adventure, mystery, and a action would really enjoy this book!
