Rating: 
Summary: AWESOME!
Review: I am a fourth grade teacher at a small school. My students are generally lower level readers. I had read this book about a year ago, and thought that they might enjoy it. I couldn't believe how quickly they got into it. It is the one time of day when I don't have to worry about anything interrupting the students concentration. They are completely enraptured with the characters and the plot. My students are now doing an author study on Sachar. I highly recommend this book to students, and adults alike.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book that keeps the kids minds racing!
Review: I am a future elementary school teacher. This book is masterfully planned and keeps those antsy fifth graders interested and thinking. It's a wonderful story, and has many surprises!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Storytelling!
Review: I am a huge fan of this book. I just finished reading it for the 3rd time. As a second grade teacher I was very familiar with Louis Sachar from his Wayside School Stories and Marvin Redpost series also. In fact his Wayside School stories are amongst my classes favorite read alouds each year. Sachar has a real knack for giving me brief chuckles and also huge belly laughs.
In this story we meet Stanley Yelnats a very unfortunate young man. Who through a strange twist of fate ends up at a youth correctional facility digging 5 foot deep, 5 foot wide holes everyday for what would be 18 months. At this camp Stanley meets up with a great cast of characters who take him in and help transform him into a new person.
This book is masterfully written! I can't help but think of the movie Cool Hand Luke... as I read it. It takes an amazing children's author to bring a prison story to light like this and make it accessible to children.
Sachar tells this story like he's "unpeeling the layers of an onion." (See the book) The connections are surprising and carefully revealed. He tells us just what we need to know-- just when we need to know it. I love it more each time I read it... and I bet you will too!
Rating: 
Summary: Could not put it down! Held my attention to the end !
Review: I am a Media Assistant at our middle school. The book was so intertaining. I read it to several classes and they were all caught up in the story. We all got into the act by giving each other nick names. Great fun !
Rating:
Summary: Finally a good book for younger readers, and adults too
Review: I am a middle aged male and I like to keep up with what is current, including children's literature. Most of what I have seen of late is not worth talking about. I am no Harry Potter fan. This book, however, is outstanding. For one thing it is a good yarn. It mixes elements from the past and present to create a well crafted story that will hold your interest from beginning to end. The main character, Stanley Yelnats, is a kind of everyman, or perhaps everychild, who succeeds not so much through physical strength and cunning as by courage and integrity. This book has been compared to Catcher in the Rye, but though Stanley is unjustly punished he never becomes cynical or vengeful. Other characters are also well developed and the dialog is most enjoyable. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A great book with a little bit of everything!
Review: I am a mom who likes to read books aloud with my kids. My 11-year-old daughter picked this one. What a treat! We laughed and cried and became very attached to Stanley and Zero and were amazed and amused at the twists and turns of the plot which were all tied up in a beautiful (w)hole at the end of the book. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: We loved Holes!
Review: I am a mom who read this book right after my 9 year old daughter finished it in 3 days. We both agree that it was a wonderful book, full of suspense, human awareness, and much more. It reminds me of the feelings I used to have reading Kurt Vonnegut's books in the 70's. I recommend it for any child who likes to explore and analyze plots and relationships.
Rating:
Summary: This book is good
Review: I am a nine-year-old girl and I think "Holes" is a really good book. In some ways it's like life, and sometimes it makes you laugh because what you're reading could never happen. My favorite part was when Stanley and Zero were on a journey to Big Thumb Mountain. It's very hard to put this book down. My father read it in one night, and so would I, if I were a little faster. When I was reading it, instead of watching TV, I would read "Holes." Everyone I know has read "Holes," and they all loved it. I encourage you all to read this story.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I am a person who likes to read action and mysteries. At first when I saw the book I was thinking who wants to read about some holes? But that's not what this breath taking book is all about. It's about a boy who has to go to a camp. They ahve to go to the camp if you gotten in trouble or something. But they have to dig deep hole as deep as the shovel and as wide as the shovel. They have to take fast showers or else the water turns off. And worst of all, the camp is in the middle of nowhere. I'm not going to tell you any more than what I have. Because I would loose control and end up ruining it. I really highly recomend this book to anyone who likes to be able to sit down start to read and not want to put the book down. So really this book is for any one. Who likes to read of course. Thanks.
Rating:
Summary: Reading this book builds Character not digging holes
Review: I am a prospective teacher from PA, and I must delcare that this was one of the most amazing childrens books I have ever read. It kept me turning the pages long into the midnight hours. I found that I finished the book in two sittings, it was that captivating. Now with that out of the way let me explain why I feel that this book deserves the 5 stars I have bestowed upon it.
Louis Sacher is a brilliant author who creates realistic and loveable characters, that I feel are easy enough for his target audience to relate to. The setting of the book puts the characters at every 14 year olds worst nightmare, Camp Green Lake. "There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. There once was a very large lake here, the largest lake in Texas."(Pg 1) The setting although fantastic, is actually quite believeable. This is ability to take fiction and make it identifiably real is one of my favorite qualities about Sachers writing style.
Sacher leads his main character Stanley Yelnats into a wildly imaginative plot. Although the plot may seem simple there are many surprise revelations woven throughout, like what onion juice is for, and what the mystery initials mean.
I felt that although there were dual stories, you could always find the relationship from one to the other. The major dramatic question that prevails through the novel is "Whats the real reason for the kids to dig holes?". The warden feels that digging holes builds character, but Stanley knows that theres something there supposed to be looking for. I think it is amazing that Sacher uses his disbelief to fuel the readers into questioning the warden as well.
The book flows very naturally there are never dull moments, and yet you never feel overwhelmed. I feel that the pacing is perfect. And along with that I feel that Sacher puts Irony and Humor to great use with the nick-names of the boys at camp. I like that Armpit is called this because "He smells like an armpit", and Zero is nick-named because "Theres nothing inside his head."
I feel that this book is great for demonstrating the bond of friendship, comradary, and the importance of believing in yourself. I would use it in class to teach a lesson on morals, and the ideas of right and wrong. There are so many characters that battle with these ethic concepts that it would be a cinch for children to identify and elaborate on them.
Lastly, I feel that there isnt a child out there that wouldnt be captivated by this book. Theres just something about Holes that makes you feel part of the story. You dont just read about the characters you fall in love with them, and you dont just know about Camp Green Lake, you feel like your really there. I hope that you have as much fun reading this book as I did. Oh.....and watch out for the lizards!
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