“ Stanley: My name is Stanley Yelnats. All my life I seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. My grandpa says it’s because of this hundred-and-fifty-year-old curse….Grandpa: It’s all because of your no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather.”
Reader's Annotation
Young teen Stanley is stuck at a juvenile work camp in the Texas desert, for a crime he didn’t commit. But whether fate or coincidence brought him there, he might just be in the right place at the right time…to possibly change his family’s karma, and help a new friend.
About the Author
Born in New York, Louis Sachar spent much of his childhood in Tustin, California. Although an economics major in college, he decided to take a class which involved volunteering in an elementary classroom, an experience which changed his life and inspired him to write. While writing, he earned a law degree and then practiced law part-time until his writing became successful enough to be a full-time career. He now lives in Texas, the environment which inspired Holes.
Genre
Adventure, mystery
Interest Age
11-14 years old. Themes are appropriate for younger viewers as well, but 11-14 year-olds may find it easier to follow the thread of the story.
Plot Summary
Young teen Stanley Yelnats is sent to Camp Green Lake, a boys' juvenile detention camp, when he is found guilty of stealing a pair of sneakers, a crime which he didn’t actually commit. The camp is in the scorchingly hot Texas desert, and all the boys are expected to dig holes every day, only being informed that if they find anything “interesting”, they are to tell one of the adults in charge of the camp. These adults are the ineffective camp counselor, Dr. Pendanski, and his superior, Mr. Sir. And supervising the entire camp is Warden Walker, a cruel woman who is driven only by the desire to find valuable items which she believes to be buried in the desert. At the camp, Stanley meets and eventually becomes friends with the other detainees, all of whom go by nicknames such as X-Ray, Armpit, ZigZag, etc. He becomes closest to Hector (Zero), a very small and quiet boy who can't read. Woven throughout the modern-day story are flashbacks to Stanley’s family’s history and the life of outlaw Kissin’ Kate Barlow in the same Texas desert area at least some 100 years earlier. Both Stanley and Hector eventually decide that they’ve had enough of Camp Green Lake, and take their immediate futures into their own hands. This leads them to a discovery with the potential to change their lives. But the Warden, of course, has other plans.
Sequels
The more mature Small Steps (2006) follows the later adventures of two Holes characters, Armpit and X-Ray.
Critical Evaluation
This is an extremely unique and watchable film, to call it a treasure would not be an overstatement. What draws you in is not just the way in which it alternates between the present of Camp Green Lake, portions of Stanley’s family’s history, and the Wild West past, but also the fact that each of these settings is depicted so vividly. And even though Stanley and the other detainees find themselves in a youth work camp, the odd quirks of the characters and the boys’ sarcastic, and often hilarious, observations highlight the comic aspects of the experience. Stanley, although a tad pessimistic in the film’s first third, makes it through detainment in large part due to his refusal to take life too seriously. The social world and hierarchy of the boys at the camp is well-drawn, dominated as much by fellow camper X-Ray as by Dr. Pendanski and Mr. Sir. But the power of each of these characters is selfish and undeserved, and stands in contrast to the selflessness of Stanley as he attempts to assist, and eventually save, Hector. And this is really one of the central messages of the film: the amazing things that can result when you reach out to help others in ways both big and small. However, you’ll probably need to watch the film twice to piece together all the details of the storyline.
Booktalking Ideas
• Give an episode booktalk of Stanley’s arrival at camp.
• Give a character booktalk from Kissin’ Kate Barlow’s viewpoint.
• Talk about the campers’ nicknames, asking audience what they think each nickname means.
Curriculum Ideas
• Social Science: Students research what life for actual juvenile work camp detainees is like.
• Biology, Ecology: Students research whether deadly lizards really exist in the world, and how they and/or other deadly reptiles may actually assist their local ecosystems’ functioning.
• Literature: Students analyze how the story of Stanley’s great-great-grandfather might be considered a folktale, and then write their own folktales.
Potential Challenge Issue & Defense
Gun violence:
• Become familiar enough with the film’s content to promote its artistic merit.
• Refer to library’s collection development policy.
• Refer to movie reviews from authoritative sources such as ALA, School Library Journal, etc.
• Obtain movie reviews from tweens who have seen it.
Why I Chose This Movie
I first saw this movie when it came out in theaters, and found it just magical...so I had to see it again!
Posts
3 comments:
This book and film is probibly the best book and film I have ever read/ seen. I would deffinatly recormend you to read or watch the film. They may be changes in the film but I say It is not a book or film you want to miss out on reading/ seeing.
Sorry fokes its the same person here. What I was ment to say it that is is a film or book that you deffinatly don't want to miss out on. I promise you once you have read or seen the film you will want to read or watch again.
Posting here because I do not know your email address...but thank you very much for your 12/16 comments, Anonymous, in support of such a wonderful book and film!
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