Holes ~ Louis Sachar

Holes by Louis Sachar is a children’s classic. Stanley Yelnats’ family is under a curse that started with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. Stanley feels the effect of this curse when he is unfairly sent to a boys’ detention centre. Every day the boys are forced to dig a hole, five feet by five feet by five feet. It is said to build character but the Warden is looking for something. 

I first read Holes at school when I was around ten or eleven. I haven’t read it since and most of what I remember comes from the film (which I also haven’t watched in a long time). With such little recollection of the story, it was almost like reading the book for the first time.

Holes is fun. The boys aren’t put in a great situation but Louis Sachar still adds humour to what could’ve been a quite repetitive book.

The relationships between the boys, especially Stanley and Zero, are interesting and condense real-world relationships into a small, exaggerated environment. It’s done in a child-friendly way but definitely parallels societal issues that haven’t changed in the twenty-four years the book has been out.

Holes was a three-star read. It’s a good solid book and I can understand why it’s a children’s classic.

C🌙