Holes (novel)

For the film based on the novel, see Holes (film).

Holes

First edition cover
Author	Louis Sachar
Cover artist	Vladimir Radunsky
Language	English
Genre	Adventure, Satire
Publisher	Farrar, Straus and Giroux (US) Bloomsbury (UK) Ediciones SM (Spain)
Publication date	August 20, 1998
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover & paperback)
Pages	241 pp (first edition) 233 pp (second ed.) 497 pp (on iPad)
ISBN	978-0-440-41480-3
OCLC	38002572
Dewey Decimal	[Fic] 21
LC Class	PZ7.S1185 Ho 1998
Followed by	Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake

Holes (1998) is a novel for children or young adults written by Louis Sachar and first published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It won the 1998 U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the 1999 Newbery Medal for the year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". Originally, the book was to be called Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Kid.

Plot

At the beginning of the story, hamish fraser jaxons best friend quick scoped everyone and saved the world , a teenage boy who is supposedly affected by a family "curse", has been wrongly accused of stealing the shoes of the baseball player Clyde Livingston from a charity auction. As punishment for this crime, he is sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention and correctional facility where convicts of similar age are forced to dig holes to "build their character". Warden Walker, real granddaughter of Trout Walker, is actually looking for a buried treasure that outlaw Katherine "Kissin' Kate" Barlow stole from Stanley's great-grandfather. Years ago, Stanley's family got cursed by Madame Zeroni, a fortune-teller and ancestor, due to a promise not fulfilled by Elya Yelnats, Stanley's great-great-grandfather, more popularly known in the novel as a "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather".

Later in the story, Zero had been living on jars of very old spiced peaches that he had found in the boat, which he called "Sploosh". Upon seeing a mountain resembling a human fist giving the thumbs up sign, Stanley recalls the story of his ancestor Stanley Yelnats I, who finds "refuge on God’s thumb", which Zero and Stanley climb in search of water.

Atop the river, Stanley discovers a field of onions, which the boys eat, and a pool of groundwater, which they drink, and during their contentment Stanley sings to Zero that they should return to Camp Green Lake to find the buried treasure. Upon returning, Zero steals some water and food from the kitchens while Stanley looks for the buried treasure. At this they succeed, but are apprehended by the Warden and the camp staff, and become surrounded by a group of lethal yellow-spotted lizards. Because the boys have consumed onions, the lizards do not bite them. Unable to leave the hole they occupy, they remain in place until the next morning, during which an attorney arrives requesting Stanley’s release. When the warden demands the suitcase, Zero indicates the name ‘Stanley Yelnats’ written on it, its contents being the jewels, deeds, stocks and promissory notes stolen from Stanley Yelnats the first.

Protagonist Stanley IV then uses the bonds to buy a new house for his family, and Zero hires a team of investigators to find his missing mother; meanwhile, the drought at Green Lake is replaced by rainfall, as if in response to Stanley's fulfilment of his ancestor's promise (a suggestion left purposely ambiguous by the narration). In a final scene, Clyde Livingston, along with the Yelnats and Zeroni families, celebrates the success of Stanley’s father's antidote to foot odor, composed of preserved and fermented spiced peaches and named "Sploosh" by Zero. The warden is forced to sell Camp Green Lake to the state government, who turns it into a Girl Scout camp, a coincidence since Mr. Sir, a head of the camp, told the campers that "this isn't a Girl Scout camp", referring to the backbreaking digging.

Setting

Holes takes place at Camp Green Lake in Texas. The town used to be by the largest lake in the state, but became a dry lake-bed after Sam was killed on the lake 110 years earlier. However, after Stanley, the great-great-grandson of Elya, carried Zero, a descendant of Madame Zeroni up to the mountaintop, he unknowingly broke the curse that had haunted the Yelnats for generations by singing the lullaby to Zero.

Characters

Stanley Yelnats (Caveman)

Stanley is the main character in 'Holes'. Stanley is white and overweight. He is from a poor family and lives with his mother and father. He doesn't have any siblings. Before being sent to Camp Green Lake, Stanley lived a normal life, except he was bullied at school by Derrick Dunne, and had no friends. He gets sent to Camp Green Lake because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time: the police thought he had stolen a pair of shoes belonging to a baseball player from a charity auction for the people at the shelter. At Camp Green Lake he lives in D Tent with X-Ray, Armpit, Squid, Zig-zag, Zero, and Magnet. His closest friend at Camp is Zero. Stanley teaches Zero to read and write. In his free time at Camp he writes letters to his Mom and he receives letters from her. Stanley is a nice, young, and friendly person. He does not fight like the other boys at camp do and he does as he is told most of the time. He is extremely cautious about the sides in Tent D and never got on either sides' wrong sides.

Hector Zeroni (Zero)

Hector Zeroni is one of the boys from D Tent. His nickname is Zero, because those at the camp believe that "nothing is going on in his little brain" (as quoted from Mr. Pendanski). The silent boy Zero does not speak to anyone but Stanley. People always look down on him and think he is dumb, but he is a really brilliant, prudential boy. Zero always finishes digging his hole first before anyone else because he is such a fast digger. He is younger than Stanley, has dark skin and was homeless before he was sent to camp. He is illiterate at the start of Stanley's time at Camp Green Lake; later, Stanley offers to teach Zero how to read in exchange for Zero digging part of Stanley's hole each day. This trade is met with criticism from the other boys at Camp Green Lake. Near the end of the story, Zero reveals that it was he who stole Clyde Livingston's sneakers from a Charity Auction and put them on top of a parked car. Later the car passed a bridge and the shoes fell off, where they then landed on Stanley's head as he was walking home from school.

Elya Yelnats

Stanley's great great grandfather. While a fifteen-year old boy growing up in Latvia, he had fallen in love with and wanted to marry Myra Menke, the daughter of a wealthy landlord. However, he was unable to compete with a fellow suitor, Igor Barkov, who had offered his largest pig. To get help, he had gone to his friend, Madame Zeroni who, despite warning him that the girl he hoped to marry was spoiled and empty-headed, gave him one of her pigs and, and a way to make it grow larger - he had to carry it up a nearby mountain every day and sing a song to it as it drank from the stream there. However, he missed the last day, and the pig ended up only as big as the pig Igor offered, and when Elya suggested that Myra choose, he is shocked and disgusted that she is as empty-headed as Madame Zeroni had warned, when she had to resort to number games in order to choose between Elya and Igor, despite the fact that Igor was old enough to be her father and quite crude. As a result, he had gotten on a boat to America - in the process, forgetting to fulfil his promise to Madame Zeroni. As a result, his family and all their descendants were cursed to have bad luck. However, he was able to translate the song that Madame Zeroni had given him, and it was retained by the family for many years. Stanley's family always blames him for things that go wrong and they say it was because of their "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather".

Madame Zeroni

Madame Zeroni was a gypsy and close friend of Elya Yelnats in Latvia, the homeland of the Yelnats and the Zeronis. She was believed to be a fortune teller, but also offered help to Elya when he hoped to marry a local girl. In return for her help, he was to carry Madame Zeroni up the mountain and sing to her as he had done with his pig. However the promise was broken, and she put a curse on the generations of Yelnats.

Rex Washburn (X-Ray)

X-Ray was in Camp Green Lake before the other boys and is the unofficial leader of Tent D. X-ray's real name is Rex Washburn as said in the sequel (Small Steps) and is at Camp Green Lake for selling oregano and ground up aspirin to people, telling them it was marijuana and cocaine. His name X-Ray is Pig Latin for Rex. He convinced Stanley to give him whatever he finds in the holes, so X-Ray can get a day off as a reward. He made Stanley his ally and went along leading Tent D by a reward-and-ally-routine. He wears thick glasses and can hardly see without the glasses. He nicknames Stanley "Caveman" and also arranges the line for when the boys line up for water.

Theodore Johnson (Armpit)

Armpit is one of the boys at Camp Green Lake whose real name is Theodore Johnson. He is described as big, muscular and dark-skinned. He is called Armpit because he got stung in the armpit by a scorpion. Many people think it is because his armpits stink. He was sent to the camp after getting into an altercation with two older boys in a movie theater. When Stanley was sent to Camp Green Lake, he thought that he was the biggest due to being overweight the beginning of the book.

Ricky (Zig Zag)

Zig Zag is one of the D tent boys at Camp Green Lake. His real name is Ricky. Stanley believes he is a more unstable character. Zigzag is extremely violent and abrupt, and did not show any signs of remorse when assaulting Stanley physically. He has been described to have wild blonde hair, paranoia and an abnormally thick neck. He got sent to Camp Green Lake for accidentally burning down a classroom at his school while he was burning some styrofoam.

Alan (Squid)

Squid is one of the tent D boys. His real name is Alan. Squid is a bit of a bully and sometimes pushes the other boys around. He makes fun of Stanley for writing to his mother and once, he stole one of her letters to Stanley from him and made fun of it. So Stanley had to leave in order to write the letters to his mother. This is probably because either he thinks Stanley is a wimp or he also wants his mother to write him letters. Squid had an unstable life at home: according to "Stanley Yelnats's Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake", when Squid was three years old, his father went out to buy some ice cream and never returned; his mother is an alcoholic. When Squid was growing up, he would often skip school and spend his time robbing his neighbor's houses (stealing mostly loose change and soda cans) which got him sent to Camp Green Lake. He moved to his cousin's house in Missouri after he was released from Camp Green Lake. He is two years behind in school, but he is studying hard to get into college and Marine Biology. He has been given his nickname Squid for many reasons: his googly eyes, a stuffed squid that he owns, his love for Marine Biology, and his ability to grab loose change with his sticky fingers.

Jose (Magnet)

Magnet is the only Hispanic member of the D tent boys. It's revealed he loves animals. In the movie, it was revealed he was sent to Camp Green Lake for stealing a puppy. Magnet said it was criminal to keep animals locked up in cages and he said he would have made it out if his pocket didn't start barking. In a group discussion, he said he'd like to train monkeys for the movies, but the other boys laughed at him.

The Warden

The Warden is in charge of Camp Green Lake, although her gender is not revealed until later in the book. She has red hair, and is covered with freckles. She was tall already, but was even more intimidating when she looks down at the boys, who were in their holes. She is extremely violent and abusive, She is extremely selfish, and only rewards those who do her bidding. She does not care for redemption of the boys, but only finding Kissin' Kate Barlow's treasure because she is a descendant of Trout Walker.

Mr. Sir

He is one of the staff in Camp Green Lake. He just quit smoking and is often seen with a big bag of sunflower seeds, as a replacement to cigarettes. He is demanding, and his motto would be "This isn't a Girl Scouts' camp." He always makes sure everyone is working to the limits of their strength.

Mr. Pendanski (Mum)

Mr. Pendanski is a worker in Camp Green Lake and he gives out water to the people who live in Camp Green Lake. Mr. Pendanski was Stanley's counselor. The boys in "Group D" call him "Mum" as he is motherly to them. He seemed friendly, but is actually very mean, as he mocks Zero and threatens Stanley at gunpoint. He was the camp's doctor though at the ending of the novel it turns out he has no qualifications to be one. According to the book, everyone remembers 3 words that will help them remember his name. The 3 words are pen-dance-key. (Sounds like Pendanski)

Stanley's family

The members of Stanley's family mentioned are his mom, dad, his great grandfather and his great great grandfather. The father, Stanley Yelnats III, was an inventor, but never had the luck to succeed in inventing anything. Thus the family is poor and lives in an apartment that smelt of old sneakers, as the father was trying to figure out a new way to recycle sneakers. The father and son sometimes believed that things were never right for them because they were under a curse.

The mother was optimistic, and always reminded the father and son that there was no curse at all, and that not all Yelnats were failures. She is also extremely worried about her son, but also trusts him, as it is obvious that she believes all the lies Stanley had told her in the letters to her.

See also Elya Yelnats, the great-great-grandfather of Stanley Yelnats IV.

Film adaptation

Main article: Holes (film)

In 2003, Walt Disney Pictures released a film version of Holes, which was directed by Andrew Davis and written by Louis Sachar. The film was a modest success at the box office and a critical success.

Sequels

Two companion novels have followed Holes: Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake (2003) and Small Steps (2006).

External links

• Louis Sachar's website for Holes