Holes By: Louis Sachar

Holes  By: Louis Sachar

Farrar, Straus and Giroux; New York

Copy right: 1998

 (Award Winner)

            Stanley Yelnats IV is a teenager who is sent to a boy’s detention center for a crime that he is innocent of.  Stanley who is an outcast in his own right is told that he must dig a hole five foot deep in the desert detention everyday of his incarceration.  There are multiple stories going on at the same time.  Stanley is a member of a family that carries a curse.  So at the same time we learn of a girl named Kate Barlow who it turns out buried gold that the operators of the detention center are looking for.  Then there is the matter of the family curse which is all intertwined.  This is a story of adventure, courage and friendship.  It’s not a book for young children, but fifth grade and up would really enjoy it.

            I found many texts to self connections in this book that I think most students would identify with.  For example, Stanley feeling as though he doesn’t fit in.   We have all had moments of being the odd man out.  Also, friendship was very powerful in this book.  For it was Stanley’s friendship that eventually led to the end of his families curse.    The text to text connection I found was with Harry potter.  There were similar themes in both books. Both boys were trying to discover a secret past of their families.  Both boys traveled to find new friendships and both boys had to find their courage from within.