Holes by Louis Sachar

Summary: Stanley Yelnats the 4th is accused of stealing a pair of sneakers donated to charity by a famous athlete, Clyde Livingston. He is sentenced to 18 months at Camp Green Lake, a boys' juvenile detention center in Texas. There, each boy must spend his day in the desert, which contained a lake during the 1800s, digging a hole five feet deep and five feet in diameter. The Warden and counselors at Camp Green Lake tell them that they are digging to build character and break them of their criminal habits, but Stanley eventually finds that the warden is searching for the treasure hidden by the outlaw Kissing Kate Barlow.
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Some of the components of holes are outstretched, but they are still plausible. The conflict (Stanely's bad luck and sentence to Camp Green Lake) is well defined. There are many characters in "Holes" and I believe Sachar develops them all wonderfully. 

Activities: 

After listening to excerpts from Holes, students will discuss ways that author Louis Sachar uses irony, antonyms and vivid vocabulary to develop his story.   Using a graphic organizer, students compare and contrast these characters/places with their names (for example:  Camp Green Lake is actually a dried up lake that is a detention center for delinquent boys).  The interactive button game below will provide and/or inspire students with creative, interesting options for contrasting character traits/names and setting descriptions/place names in order to create a “backwards poem.” 

Make a map depicting where the action took place in the novel. Put labels on the map to indicate what happened at each location.


Response Questions: 

What is the significance of Stanley's name being a palindrome, a word that is spelled the same way forward and backward?

What do you think the title Holes means? What might be another reason other than the holes the boys dig in the lake? What hole (or holes) is in Stanley's life when he first arrives at Camp Green Lake? Are the holes still there when he leaves?

At home, Stanley did not have friends. But at Camp Green Lake, he forms a special friendship with Zero. How did Zero and Stanley prove their friendship to each other? In what way does Zero fill a hole in Stanley's life?

About the Author: 

Newbery Award-winning author Louis Sachar is the creator of the entertaining Marvin Redpost books as well as the much-loved There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, winner of 17 child-voted state awards. Louis Sachar's book Holes, winner of the 1999 Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, is also an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, an ALA Quick Pick, an ALA Notable Book, and was made into a major motion picture.

Personal Response: 
I remember reading Holes as a young adult and really enjoying the story line. I also think it teaches a valuable lesson about kids sort of traveled from "the path". The characters that were in juvenile attention all figure themselves out in a positive ending. 

Citation: 
Sachar, L. (2002). Holes. New York: Dell Yearling