This book is about a boy named Stanley Yelnats who is falsely accused of stealing a pair of shoes. When he goes to court, he is proven guilty and the judge gives him two choices. He can go to jail, or he can go to Camp Green Lake. Naturally, Stanley chooses Camp Green Lake. But Camp Green Lake is not like ordinary camps. Boys who go there have to dig holes all day long: One five-foot deep and five-foot wide. At first, Stanley thinks this is all his “no good dirty rotten pig stealing great great grandfather’s” fault.

The story is, when his great great grandfather was a young man, he was in love with a teenage girl named Myra, along with a man named Igor. But Myra’s dad said that in order to marry Myra, the two men had to raise a piglet that would weigh enough and be fat enough for Myra’s family to eat. Based on their pig’s weight, one of them would get to marry her. Because of his passionate longing to marry her, and because he didn’t have a pig, Stanley’s great great grandfather goes to a fortune teller to plead for a solution to his problem. She tells him to take one of her new-born piglets and carry it up a special mountain every day. The mountain has a river running down it, and the fortune teller tells him let the pig drink from the river, an sing it a special song. But the fortune teller’s one condition is: After Stanley’s great great grandfather is done with the pig, he must carry her up the mountain, let her drink from the river, and sing her the special song. If he does not, all his descendants will be doomed, FOREVER! But because of pigheadedness and because he plain forgot, Stanley’s great great grandfather did not marry Myra and he did not carry the fortune teller up the mountain.

While at Camp Green Lake, digging holes as usual,  Stanley is falsely accused again for stealing the manager of the camp’s (Mr. Sir) sunflower seeds, he is taken to the warden. The warden takes her venomous nail polish, paints her nails, and slaps Mr. Sir across the face. She laughs and tells Stanley,

“He won’t die, unfortunatly for you.

“Will Stanley survive Camp Green Lake? Will he ever know the true story of Camp Green Lake? To find out, read Holes, by Louis Sachar.

I think this book would appeal to both boys and girls. This book was great and had me longing for more. It does switch back and forth between Stanley’s story and the great great gandfather’s story, so it does get a little confusing. Except for that, you should definetly read Holes and its sequel, Small Steps.

Blogged by Carina D.