Holes

//**Holes**// by Louis Sachar

Stanley Yelnats is not a bad kid; he is just cursed with rotten luck, which stretches from when his ancestor, also named Stanley Yelnats, immigrated to America. Punished for stealing a pair of smelly sneakers, Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake, which is not a lake, a camp, or has anything “green” about it. He and the other “campers,” all boys who have been sent there for one offense or another, must dig a hole that is five feet wide and five feet deep, everyday. If anything important is uncovered, the boys must report it to the “counselors” and the sadistic Warden. Stanley, armed with wry humor and knowing that he is innocent, and finding solace in teaching Zero how to read, not only survives “camp,” but also manages to discover what all the boys have been digging for. Sachar’s language is beautiful and moving, and he effortlessly moves between Stanley’s story, his family history, and the history of Kissing Kate Barlow, a Texan outlaw who only kissed the men she killed.