Author: Louis Sachar
Title: Holes
Illustrator:
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Year: 1998
Genre: Newberry
Format: Hardcover
Reading Level: Independent reader
Interest level: Late elementary, middle school
Topics: adventure, digging, bad luck, flashbacks, old west
Summary: Stanley's family was cursed with bad luck. One day on his way home, a pair of shoes fell from the sky. They weren't any ordinary pair of shoes, they were the donated baseball cleats of a famous baseball player. He's arrested and sent to Camp Green Lake to dig holes. Digging holes is supposed to build character while giving the delinquent boys a chance to think about their actions. Stanley becomes good friends with Hector and they come up with a trade system, Hector digs Stanley's holes and Stanley teaches Hector how to read and write. One day, after a fight, Hector runs away off into the desert. Stanley runs after him the next day and together they, unknowingly, break the curse set on Stanley's family.
Extension Activity: Discuss the challenges Stanley goes through when he first gets to camp. Why is everyone treating him different? How do you think he feels about it? How do you think he deals with it? How would you feel if people treated you like that? How would you feel if you were away from your family for the whole summer being punished for a crime you didn't commit?
