Book Review: Holes

Holes by Louis Sachar
Publisher: Dell Yearling
Release Date: 2000
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

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 Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys’ detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the warden makes the boys “build character” by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. 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. Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption.

The author did a fantastic job of weaving the past and present together and bringing everything full circle in this book in a way that even young children could understand. It could have easily gotten very complicated and convoluted but he managed to make it intricate yet understandable. My second grader read this book on his own and figured it all out. I read this book aloud to my first grader which worked out nicely because I could discuss it with him as we went along and make sure he understood it. Most of the time he did on his own and he always did after we had a conversation.

Both my boys can be sensitive to darker plots and humor but they both really enjoyed this book – it wasn’t too much for them. It’s recommended for third grade and up but I found it appropriate for my first and second grader. The only mildly inappropriate instance is when one character says, “What the hell?” I didn’t even notice when I was reading it but West, my first grader, was quick to point out at our book club meeting that it was his favorite part – because of the “bad” word. Such a proud parenting moment.

Speaking of book club, this was a great selection for the Intergenerational Book Club (IGBC) at my church. There were kids from first through fifth grade (mostly boys) and all of them enjoyed this book. For snacks we had worms and dirt (made by the kids), doughnut holes, and pumpkin onion cookies. (Onions play an important role in the story.)

This book was made into a great movie a few years ago – watch for my review of it in a few days!

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For more reviews of books for children and teens, check out Booking Mama’s feature, Kid Konnection, posted on Saturdays. If you’d like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children’s books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, you can go to her site to leave a comment and your link .