Holes

Louis Sachar

June 2011 · Sold by Yearling

About this eBook

This groundbreaking classic is now available in a special anniversary edition with bonus content. Winner of the Newbery Medal as well as the National Book Award, HOLES is a New York Times bestseller and one of the strongest-selling middle-grade books to ever hit shelves!

Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes.

It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment
—and redemption.

Special anniversary edition bonus content includes: A New Note From the Author!; "Ten Things You May Not Know About HOLES" by Louis Sachar; and more!

Ratings and reviews

Holes is a wild ride through a Texas desert, full of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end. Louis Sachar's storytelling is top-notch, weaving together multiple timelines and perspectives into a compelling mystery. The characters are quirky and memorable, from the unfortunate Stanley Yelnats to the enigmatic Warden. The themes of karma, fate, and the power of hope are explored in a thought-provoking way, making this more than just a fun adventure story.

The plot is interesting but you have to push yourself to make it to the end. Even the movie couldn't help. I wouldn't have read on after the first few chapters if it wasn't a school thing.

My class read "Holes" and here are some of their comments: I love the book because they became rich and I'm Zero. I like the characters Stanley and Zero. I wish that warden and Mr. Sir had been chased by a bunch of lizards and got eaten by the yellow-spotted lizards. It was kind of corny because there was lots of suspense, but nothing ever happened. It would have been better if the lizards had bitten somebody. They must have been lucky they got the sploosh. I wish Mr. Sir would have fell into the lizard nest. And it was nasty that they only got two minute showers.

About the author

Louis Sachar is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Holes, which won the Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Christopher Award, as well as Stanley Yelnats' Survival to Camp Green Lake; Small Steps, winner of the Schneider Family Book Award; and The Cardturner, a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a Parents' Choice Gold Award recipient, and an ALA-YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Book. His books for younger readers include There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, The Boy Who Lost His Face, Dogs Don't Tell Jokes, and the Marvin Redpost series, among many others.