Holes

Holes – Louis Sachar

Evan’s ESS = 9 out of 10

Erin’s ESS = out of 10

Content = PG (Minor Violence, Name Calling, Digging, Dehydration, Onions)

“It was all because of his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather!”

Why: For those of you that don’t already know, one of our (Evan’s) favorite stories from childhood was Sideway Stories from Wayside School.  Fast forward a couple decades, give or take one or two, and we find out that the genius behind literature’s most infamous 30 story school building wrote several other popular YA novels.  Who knew?  Well, not us.  It goes without saying that we could hardly contain our excitement (actually, Evan didn’t contain his excitement, which resulted in a rather unpleasant experience at the library).

After a series of unfortunate events, Stanley Yelnats IV is shipped off to a boy’s correctional facility, called Camp Green Lake.  To help build moral fiber, each camper is required to dig daily holes in one of the hottest and driest regions in all of west Texas.  Exhausted and lonely, it isn’t until Stanley befriends a peculiar boy who never speaks, that his fortunes begin to change.   Slowly, the two campers unravel a sinister plot headed by the camp’s Warden.  Hanging in the balance is not only Stanley’s life, but also a breakthrough technology in the fight against foot odor.... 

What a great young adult novel!  There was action, adventure, friendship and a fair number of scorpions.  We loved how the plot wove separate tales involving Stanley’s family history and connected them seamlessly to add depth to the resolution.  We loved the various personalities at Camp Green Lake despite our distaste for some of the campers and counselors.  We loved the villainous Warden and Stanley’s eccentric father.  Okay, we’ll be done with the love-fest.  Holes represents YA literature at its finest and after you read the novel check out Shia LaBeouf in the not too terrible movie adaptation.