Holes
by Louis Sachar
|
Yearling (New York): 1998. Trade paperback: 256 pages. ISBN-10: 0-440-41480-6 Suggested retail price: $6.50 (US) Awards: 1998 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, 1999 Newbery Medal Tags: boys; desert; onions; shovels; Texas; treasure; Youth Tactical strength: [7/10] |
Compare prices on Holes by Louis Sachar at Book Cost
Stanley Yelnats IV gets sent to Camp Green Lake for stealing a pair of sneakers. He didn't really steal the sneakers -- the shoes literally fell out of the sky and hit him on the head. But the shoes belonged to a well-known baseball player who had donated the shoes to a local shelter. Stanley accepts his sentence to eighteen months at Camp Green Lake as just another in a series of unlucky events that plague the Yelnats family. At the camp, Stanly -- and every other boy -- must dig a five-foot deep, five-foot diameter hole each day because digging holes builds character. The lake dried up over one hundred years before, and the boys dig in the dry, desert lake bed.
In addition to Stanley's contemporary story, author Louis Sachar intertwines the stories of Stanley's great-great grandfather Elya and the story of the founding citizens of Green Lake, Texas. Elya Yelnats lived in Latvia and wanted to marry a local farmer's daughter. The farmer had a marriage offer from another boy, so the farmer said the boy who brings him the biggest pig will win his daughters hand. Elya seeks the advice of a gypsy woman, Madame Zeroni. She tells Elya to carry a pig up the mountain every day to drink from a special stream. Once the pig gets big enough to win the farmer's daughter, then as part of the agreement Elya must carry Madame Zeroni up the mountain to drink from the stream. Breaking the agreement would bring an eternal curse on Elya and all his descendants. Elya doesn't win the contest, and in a fit of disappointment embarks for America without fulfilling his promise to Madame Zeroni.
At one time, Green Lake did have a beautiful lake and a thriving community. Kate the schoolteacher had many suitors, but she seemed to fancy Sam, a Negro man who sold onions and traded repairs on the schoolhouse for Kate's canned peaches. Trout Walker also sought Kate's affections, but he stunk like a fish and had a spoiled, rich-kid attitude. One night Trout saw Sam and Kate kiss, and he rounded up a lynch mob to go after Sam. Sam tried to escape across the lake in his boat, but Trout had a steam-powered yacht that he used to ram and sink Sam's boat. Outraged at the murder of Sam, Kate turned into a bandit and became known as Kissin' Kate, since she would leave a heavy lipstick mark on the face of the men she robbed and killed.
Sachar neatly ties up all three story lines into the resolution of Stanley's days at Camp Green Lake. Because I saw the movie before I read the book, I already knew the story's resolution, but it seems to me that Stanley takes too long putting the pieces together. The book does do a better job at showing how Stanley develops as a person. Ironically, even though Stanley doesn't deserve to go to the detention camp, he really benefits from his time there. Through the physical labor, he loses much of his excess weight. Through his association with Zero, he builds a friendship and comes to understand loyalty. And through his actions lifts the family curse by completing his grandfather Elya's promise.
Sachar says that it took him over a year to write Holes, and you can tell that he spent a lot of time getting all the story-line interconnections just right.
Related Review
Holes directed by Andrew Davis
