The Overview:
Holes is a 1998 young adult mystery comedy written by Louis Sachar featuring Stanley Yelnats IV, a 14-year old, overweight boy with no friends and terrible luck. After being wrongfully accused of stealing a pair of famous baseball shoes, Stanley is sent to Camp Crystal Lake, a juvenile work camp where “bad boys go to dig a hole and be add good”. Throughout the story, there are flashbacks to Stanley’s great- great-grandfather, Elya Yelnats, supposedly the cause of the Yelnats’s family’s bad luck, and to the love story of Katherine Barlow and Sam the onion picker.
The Diction:
Holes is a book of a sixth to eighth grade reading level, and although it is written with a more mature voice, it more or less comes off as such. The diction that is used is that of an average sixth grader, and the content deals with both teen-aged themes, such as bullying and obesity, and adult themes, like poverty.
A Potential Turn-off:
The book does tend to jump around and across three story lines: Stanley’s arc, Elya’s arc, and Katherine’s arc. The three arcs eventually become one cohesive plot, but it takes quite a while. Now, for me, this was not especially a definite problem, so much as an irritation. For instance, while reading about Stanley, the story would jump back over fifty year to Elya’s story. Granted, none of the side-stories are boring, but it was a shock. I enjoyed Stanley’s arc the most, and thus, whenever the story arcs switched I found myself wishing I was back with Stanley.
Another small problem I had with the book is not the book’s fault. If the reader has seen the Disney adaptation of Holes, by the same name, it can become a little difficult separate the written word from the cinematic experience. This is because the movie is almost the book copied-pasted. Good for the movie, but bad for people who have some report to complete on the book and have previously seen the movie.
An Appealing Factor:
Stanley Yelnats is one of the best protagonists to ever come out of a young adult’s book. He is not the generic person who finds love with someone who would normally be out of his league. He is not a bombshell in appearance, and in fact, there isn’t even any indication that he is handsome at all. He is explicitly described as morbidly obese and very timid, due to past bullying encounters. On top of all of this, Stanley, and his entire father’s side of the family for that matter, have rotten luck. Therefore he get blamed for many things that aren’t his fault. Even better, Stanley works hard to improve his self-esteem, including dropping over 150 pounds with pure willpower. All of this makes Stanley a very relatable character to most teen ad he can easily gain sympathy and affection. Because he is such a three-dimensional character, the reader can easily slip into his skin and become him, become empathetic regarding his troubles, despise those who treat me unfair, love those he loves. I myself am very fond of Stanley and could see him as my younger brother.
My Rating:
I rate Holes nine of of ten stars. Find your nearest library. They should have it.
