Holes

**SUMMARY/REVIEW**
Stanley Yelnats was born into a family with a history of bad luck. He was accused of stealing a pair of donated shoes by the basketball star Clyde "Sweetfeet" Livingston. The incident sends him into court with a choice between camp and jail. Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake where there is no existence of a lake. At camp the main character meets a bunch of other boys who have been sent to camp for punishment. Each day the boys have to dig a hole that is five feet wide and five feet deep. The warden says that the digging builds their character. However, the boys know that there is a hidden purpose to the digging and they are digging for the truth.

**AUTHOR BIO**
Louis Sachar was born on March 20, 1954 in East Meadows, New York. When he was in the third grade, his family moved to Tustin, California. He started going to college in Ohio, however, his father passed away so he moved back to California to be closer to his mother. He attended the University of California at Berkeley where he majored in economics. At Berkeley he found out about helping out in an elementary school and earning college credit for it. This became his favorite college course and it was a life-changing experience. When he graduated college in 1976 he decided to write a children's book. He based the children's book on the students he got to know at the elementary school. This book later came to be known as //Sideways Stories from Wayside School.// He later went on to law school and passed the bar exam. He started practicing law, however he stopped and became a full time writer when he became successful. He married his wife Sherre in 1985 and they now live in Texas with their daughter (2).

**OTHER CHILDREN'S LITERATURE**
//Alone in His Teacher's House, The Boy Who Lost His Face, The Cardturner, Class President, Dogs Don't Tell Jokes, A Flying Birthday Cake, Holes, Is He a Girl?, Johnny's in the Basement, Kidnapped at Birth?, A Magic Crystal?, More Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School, Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Sixth Grade Secrets, Small Steps, Someday Angeline, Stanley Yelnat's Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake, Super Fast-Out of Control!, There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, Wayside School is Falling Down, Why Pick on Me?// (3).

**AWARDS**
1999 Newbery Medal; 1998 National Book Award for Young People's Literature; A Christopher Award for Juvenile Fiction; An ALA Notable Book; An ALA Best Book for Young Adults; An ALA Quick Pick for Young Adults; A New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year; A Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Book; A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year; A Publishers Weekly Notable Children's Book of the Year; A Publishers Weekly Bestseller; A Horn Book Fanfare Title; A Riverbank Review 1999 Children's Book of Distinction; A New York Public Library Children's Book of 1998-100 Titles for Reading and Sharing; A Texas Lone Star Award Nominee; A NECBA Fall List Title (1).

**HISTORICAL CONTEXT**
//Holes// was very successful as a book and received numerous awards. It was so successful that it was made into a movie by Walt Disney Pictures and was released in the year of 2003.

**MAJOR THEMES**
Consequences of destiny, importance of friendship, justice, point of view, compassion for victims of social injustice/misjudgment, fate.

**CITATIONS**
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