Holes

Rating:
Summary: One of Sachar's best!
Review: Louis Sacher os known for hios witty and glamourous books,but this is his best yet! The characters are developed with ease, and the plot is amazing! Don't hesitate to read! This is a page turner!

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Summary: Voted the "Best Book This Year!" by my 8th grade class
Review: Louis Sacher's latest book was written while he was sequestered away in his home office atop his garage in the hot, dusty city of Austin, Texas. Each day, for a year and a half, he added to his story, keeping it so secretive that even his wife and daughter were not allowed to find out anything about the book until it was completed.

It is with this same air of secrecy that the reader begins their journey through "Holes" unraveling the plot, layer by layer, until at last all is revealed. Sacher uses a fictious dried-up lake bed in Texas as the setting for Camp Green Lake, a detention camp for bad boys. When Stanley Yelnats is wrongly accused of stealing,he unwittingly chooses "camp" over jail. Once there he befriends a boy named Zero and learns the value of friendship.

A female warden, an onion salesman, a female outlaw, and a curse by an old Egyptian woman all play a part in Stanley discovering what it takes to overcome his own fears and risk his life to save a friend. Intrigue and plot twists will keep the reader guessing as they dig up the truth about Camp Green Lake and a host of lively characters.

All of my eighth grade students at Baker Middle School were enthralled with this book as we read it aloud in class. I have never seen such a positive response to a book by middle grades students. I highly recommend it to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Never Stopped Reading
Review: Man, I've read many exciting books, but none like this one! Holes is a great book for children who love adventure, exciting, and funny stories. Its almost like it glues your eyes to the book. Many kids will not stop reading this book.... I recommend this book for all readers that want to read an awesome book...

Rating:
Summary: Reluctant Readers
Review: Many of my 8th graders who hate to read liked this book alot. Students who rarely finish books, finish this one!

Rating:
Summary: Holes is Hot!
Review: Many people may think of fun and good times when they think of going to camp. However, its a different story for Stanley Yelnats when he gets sent to Camp Green Lake. At this camp he must watch for scorpions, rattlesnakes and yellow-spotted lizards while he digs holes in an old dried-up lake in 95 degree weather! No one would normally choose to attend this camp. In the book Holes, by Louis Sachar, Stanley Yelnats is accused of a crime he didn't commit and as he is "paying his debt to society" he finds himself in the middle of yet another sticky situation.
This book could definitely be called a "good book". It is overflowing with literary merit from cover to cover. The characters and setting are both unique and believeable. One can relate to not fitting in just like Stanley didn't fit in at school. He was often picked on and at the center of jokes because of his weight. Louis Sachar, being the skilled writer that he is, used vivid descriptions that made the reader feel as though they were in the book. "The shovel felt heavy in Stanley's soft, fleshy hands. He tried to jam it into the earth, but the blade banged against the ground and bounced off withought making a dent. The vibrations ran up the shaft of the shovel and into Stanley's wrist, making his bones rattle." (Sachar 26). While reading that passage, I could feel my own bones rattling!
Sachar also provided a dialogue that gave insight about the characters. X-Ray, Zero, Armpit and Squid were a few of the names of Stanley's friends at camp. Their names though wierd to hear, were actually representatives of the characteristics. As the story progressed and Stanley befriended the boys at the camp, the reader learned that things and people aren't always as they seem. The pacing and style of the book was very appropriate. The story moves from Stanley's present situation and smoothly takes you back 100 years to tell a story that adds to the already exciting plot. A final type of literary merit Sachar uses is understatement. Sachar ends the story by saying, "This is pretty much the end of the story. The reader probably still has some questions, but unfortunately, from here on in, the answers tend to be long and tedious." The reader is left to make their own conclusions about what they think happened in the book. I personally didn't appreciate the way the book ended but, all in all it was an excellent book.
People of all ages would like this book. It is more appropriate for students in 4th grade (9 years old)and higher. This book would be good to teach students about making predictions. It would also be useful in showing students how although people are different in many ways, they are also very much alike.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've ever read!
Review: Mesmerizing...you can't put it down until you finish! Can't wait for Louis Sachar to write more....this is his best yet (although I haven't read all his books...this is from judging other reviewers remarks).

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read for Anyone!
Review: Much like the Harry Potter series, Holes has a plot that fits together like a puzzle, and the reader must place the pieces. With this book, one must look at every bit of detail to fully enjoy the story. What really interests me is that Holes is not just one story, but two stories. One is a legend that sets the scene for the book, and the other is what is happening at the present. Even more interesting, is that Louis Sachar has managed to intertwine the two stories, and giving out certain bits of information to the reader at the appropriate times. Even though the book is intended for ages nine to twelve, I would reccomend this book to just about anyone that can read, and has a good sense of logic.

Rating:
Summary: No holes in this well-told tale. An instant classic!
Review: My 10-year-old daughter made me read this book and I am truly grateful. Stanley Yelnats has been sent to the Camp Green Lake boys' detention center for the proverbial crime he did not commit. Each day he is required to dig a hole exactly five feet wide and five feet deep, and to report anything interesting he finds. As Stanley digs his first hole and then his second, his third and so on, we learn the story of his great-great-grandfather Elya Yelnats who fell in love with Myra Menke and asked for the help of Madame Zeroni to win the young girl's hand, which may have something to do with the curse on the Yelnats family. We also learn of his great-grandfather, the first Stanley Yelnats, who lost his fortune to the famous bandit Kate Barlow somewhere near where Stanley and the others are not digging dozens of holes each day. But as we often find in literature, this is a small world and a pair of sneakers, sweet tasting onions and small lizards with exactly 11 yellow spots can be very important in the end.

Louis Sachar's novel is one of those marvelous creations where everything comes together in the most delightful way. The description of the book as a puzzle is particularly apt. The situation Stanley faces is presented realistically even as the story is interwoven with fairy tale elements. This is one of those books that gets children to love reading and perhaps the best think about "Holes" is that after reading something like this, younger readers will have higher expectations for good story telling. You might not find obvious lessons to be learned from this book, since you have to fill in some holes yourself, but there is nothing wrong with the pure joy of a well-told tale.

Rating:
Summary: Great book for readers of all ages!
Review: My 10-year-old son's 5th grade teacher started reading Holes daily to his class and he started giving me periodic updates. We were both dismayed when the book was due back at the library and his teacher couldn't renew it since so many people were on the waiting list for the book. We tried checking it out at our local library and after finding it wasn't available at any branch in the county, bought our own copy. We finished the book quickly, enjoying every chapter and shared it with his class so they would know how it ended. I always enjoy happy endings and this book definitely has one!

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly inventive !
Review: My 11 year old daughter and I both loved this book. Its a totally unique piece of fiction, that really captures the imagination. I'd recommend it to boys and girls in the 10-12 age group (all the main characters in the book are boys). To describe it would take away all the fun of reading it and discovering the story, except to say that it's the story of a boy who finds himself in difficult circumstances for no fault of his own, but his own inner goodness and strength bring him through it. It's in a genre all it's own. I think that because it happens in a present day setting, kids can read it and relate to it due to the great story telling. If you want your child exposed to some non-traditional fiction, this book is it. No doubt that's why it won the Newberry Medal. Our daughter's teacher recommended it to the 5th grade class.