 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Holes
- By Louis Sachar
- Genre: Adventure
Common Sense Media says
Humorous and moving story has an edge.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that there's an edge to this humorous, moving, and sometimes violent story that children really respond to. Parents may want to talk to their children about the unfairness of Stanley's life, and the cold-hearted viciousness of some of the characters.
What's the story?
Stanley Yelnats, falsely convicted of stealing a celebrity's sneakers, is sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention center in the middle of the desert, where the inmates are required to dig a large hole every day. Getting to know the other inmates and getting used to the grueling routine is only part of the story, though. There's a mystery behind this strange punishment that is related to a treasure and the supposed curse on Stanley's family dating back to his "dirty-rotten-pig-stealing" great grandfather. The keys to the mystery are scattered among a boy named Zero, a warden with rattlesnake venom nail polish, and a boat that is named after an onion-eating mule and sits in the middle of a dry lake bed.
Is it any good?
Louis Sachar's HOLES jumps around in time and place as he weaves his intricate tapestry of intersecting stories. An old Egyptian wise woman whose curse resounds down the generations, a schoolmarm whose love for a black man destroys both their lives, a boy abandoned by his mother at a playground, a girl consumed with anger and greed as she watches the downfall of her family -- when all these disparate stories finally come ringing into their places, it's like hearing the perfect orchestral chord.
Sachar pulls together this complicated story with unusual characters, dark humor, inventive plotting, and some Dickensian coincidences. The harshness of the situation is mitigated by the multifaceted mystery and by the strangely lighthearted way the author tells the story. At the end the author deliberately leaves a few holes in the plot for the reader to fill in. Sachar has a bizarre imagination, and in this vivid, many-layered book he puts it to its most compelling use yet.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about belonging.
Why is Stanley considered a misfit?
Do the people around him view him
differently by the end of the book?How does Stanley's opinion of
himself change?
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AGE
I use this book for the summer reading requirement in my 7th grade Language Arts class, and the kids love it! There are so many layers here - history, issues of racism and prejudice, the importance of literacy, etc. - all woven into one a complete, satisfying story.
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AGE
main story, ok. sub story- whoa
the actual main story is ok, sometimes boring and sometimes really funny (stanley's family blames all their bad luck on a cursed 'no good rotten pig stealing great great grandfather'. when the psychiatrist tells him 'there's one person responsible for the trouble you're in (meaning stanley) stanley says 'yes. my no good rotten...) part of the history of the story, though, completely blew me away. it was about a school teacher in the West who was in love with a black man. he got hanged, and she became a criminal because of her hatred of cruel- or any- laws. twenty years later she is hunted down by a former student of hers and told that if she doesn't tell him where she hid all her stolen treasure he'll make her wish she was dead. she tells him that she'd been wishing she was dead for twenty years. the author uses simple, simple language, no flowery adjectives, and it makes it all the more powerful. an amazing book.
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Kid, 9 years old
June 6, 2011
AGE
Great Book!
The book teaches you how to survive in hard conditions. There is a little violence, but overall, it is a very good book. My favorite part is when Stanley's lawyer comes and says that Stanley is free
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AGE
Love this book!
Perfect book for any teen or preteen. Not ideal for most children.
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AGE
Good book!
Very funny, great book for anyone. This book is so great for kids. It is kind of a survival book for kids at a certain part. Kind of avoid what I just recently said. This book is really great and the movie is good too. I recommend both the movie and book.
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Kid, 12 years old
November 17, 2009
AGE
good for people who like mysteries
it is a great book with mysteries and flashbacks
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AGE
when i was reading holes i found the sentence WHAT THE HELL IN IT AND I FOUND YOURE DRUNK ! AND I FOUND HALLUCINATIONS IN THE BOOK but i still love it !!!!!!
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AGE
best for the preteens and young adults
i think that the book was very good but for a older age. i do believe that louis should of used a little less drinking/smoking and a little better language but other than that it was realy good. =)
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AGE
I really enjoyed Holes as it gives you a great idea of how horrible camp green lake is, digging a hole a day 5 feet deep and 5 feet wide. I found this book quite funny because Stanley's luck just gets worse and worse.
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AGE
About Holes
Holes is a educational book it says 1 cussword the H word but it is a very interesting book that teaches you lessons..
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| Author: | Louis Sachar |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Publisher: | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
| Publication date: | May 9, 2000 |
| Number of pages: | 233 |
| Hardcover price: | $16.00 |
| Paperback price: | $6.50 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 9 - 12 |
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