Review #11: Holes by Louis Sachar

Title: Sachar, Louis. Holes.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2008. 265 pages. Tr. $15.35. ISBN:978-0-374-33266-2
Genre: Fiction/Adventure
Reading Level/Interest Level: 5.1 / Grades 5-8
Awards: None
Similar Titles: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson,  Freak the Mighty by W. Rodman Philbrick, Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar.

 Stanley Yelnats IV just can’t get a break. With the world’s worst luck, a genetic trait, he finds himself in a correctional “camp” for an offense he did not commit, though the evidence seems contrary to fact. Forced to dig  5x5 foot holes, daily, in the searing hot desert, filled with deadly lizards and insects, with little water, bizarre and unpredictable “counselors”, and the ever present threat of “The Warden”, Stanley sees his punishment as just another unfortunate circumstance he has to accept and muddle through.  What he didn’t anticipate was the depth of the connections he would make there, learning that the circumstances that led him there were not so coincidental, that the greatest adventure awaited him and that he, Stanley Yelnats IV has the chance to break the curse his family had unknowingly been under for generations and bring the camp to its knees.

With enough backstory, plot twists, and mind benders to make you dizzy, Louis Sachar takes his readers on another cerebral ride with great fantasy elements and real life connections about overcoming adversity, the strength of unlikely relationships, understanding your past and never giving up. A constant page turner, the plot and characters go beyond gender and will become a great read for all children who read it, from tween to teen years.

I would recommend putting this book into the hands of interested children at the age of 10-12 but would find it appropriate to do so for advanced readers at the age of 9, as I know that if it had been brought to my attention at that age, I wouldn’t have been able to stay away from it.  While the modern film adaptation of the same name, produced by The Walt Disney company, sticks very closely to the story, read the book, whether you’ve seen the movie or not. I promise, you won’t regret it.