Holes (novel) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Holes

Author	Louis Sachar
Language	English
Genre	Adventure
Publisher	Farrar, Straus and Giroux (US) Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Ediciones SM (Spain)
Publication date	August 20, 1998
ISBN	978-0-786-22186-8
OCLC	3800257333232
Dewey Decimal	[Fic] 21
LC Class	PZ7.S1185 Ho 1998

Holes is a popular young adult novel written by Louis Sachar. It was first published in 1998. The story is about an unlucky teenage boy named Stanley Yelnats. He is sent to Camp Green Lake, a special center for young people, after being wrongly accused of stealing.

Camp Green Lake is in a dry desert in Texas. The book tells Stanley's story in the present. It also shares stories from the past. These past events show how people's actions long ago affect Stanley's life today. The book talks about important ideas like being treated unfairly, not having a home, and not being able to read.

Holes was very successful and got great reviews. People praised its clever plot and interesting characters. It won the 1998 U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature. It also won the 1999 Newbery Medal. This award is for the best American book for children that year. In 2012, it was named one of the top children's novels of all time by School Library Journal.

Walt Disney Pictures made Holes into a movie in 2003. The movie was liked by critics and earned a lot of money. A follow-up book, Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake, was released with the movie. A sequel called Small Steps came out in 2006. It focuses on another character from the book, Armpit.

Story of Holes

The book Holes tells three stories at once. One story is about Stanley Yelnats in the present. The other two stories are from the past. They show how everything is connected.

Stanley's Story

Stanley Yelnats IV is a 14-year-old boy. His family is poor and seems to have really bad luck. They blame this bad luck on Stanley's "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather." Stanley's latest problem happens when he is wrongly blamed for stealing famous baseball player Clyde "Sweet Feet" Livingston's shoes. These shoes were meant for a charity auction.

Because of this, Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake. This place is supposed to help troubled kids. But it's actually in the middle of a hot, dry desert. The lake dried up many years ago. The area is full of dangerous yellow-spotted lizards. Their bites are deadly. At the camp, the kids must dig one large hole every day. Each hole is five feet wide and five feet deep. The Warden says this helps them "build character." Stanley soon starts to think the Warden is looking for something specific.

Elya Yelnats' Story

This story is about Stanley's great-great-grandfather, Elya Yelnats. He lived in Latvia a long time ago. Elya was in love with Myra, the prettiest girl in his village. But another man, Igor Barkov, also wanted to marry Myra. Igor was a pig farmer and offered Myra's father his fattest pig.

Elya went to his friend Madame Zeroni for help. She was an old fortune teller with one foot missing. Madame Zeroni gave Elya a tiny piglet. She told him to carry it up a mountain every day. He also had to let it drink from a stream and sing a special song to it. The pig would grow bigger each time. In return, Elya had to carry Madame Zeroni up the mountain and sing to her. She warned him that if he didn't, his family would be cursed. This curse could only be broken if one of his future family members carried one of her future family members up a mountain, gave them water, and sang to them.

Elya followed her advice, and his pig grew as big as Igor's. But Elya realized Myra wasn't very smart. He left in anger and decided to move to America. He forgot his promise to Madame Zeroni. In America, he married a kind and smart woman named Sarah Miller. But bad luck followed him. Elya told Sarah about the curse. Sarah refused to leave him. The song he sang to the pig became a lullaby passed down through his family.

Kissin' Kate Barlow's Story

In 1888, Green Lake was a lively town with a real lake. Katherine Barlow was the local schoolteacher. She fell in love with Sam, an African-American onion farmer. She turned down the rich Charles "Trout" Walker. When Katherine and Sam were seen kissing, the townspeople became very angry.

Katherine and Sam tried to escape across the lake in Sam's boat. But Trout Walker and the angry crowd caught them. Sam was shot and killed. Katherine was "rescued" against her will. After that day, it stopped raining in Green Lake.

Three days later, Katherine killed the town sheriff. She did this because he refused to help Sam. She then became a famous outlaw known as "Kissin' Kate Barlow." She got this name because she left a red lipstick kiss on the cheeks of the men she killed. For the next twenty years, she robbed many banks. She even left Stanley's great-grandfather stranded in the desert. He survived by finding a safe place on a mountain shaped like a thumb, which he called "God's thumb."

Kate Barlow later returned to the ruins of Green Lake. Trout Walker and his wife Linda found her. They tried to make her tell them where she buried her stolen money. But Kate refused. She told them they and their families could dig in the desert forever and never find it. Then, a yellow-spotted lizard bit her. As she was dying, Katherine laughed. She told them to start digging for her lipstick. She said finding the lipstick was the only way to break Green Lake's curse.

Camp Green Lake Continues

The Warden at Camp Green Lake tells the boys they can have the rest of the day off if they find anything "interesting." Stanley starts to suspect the Warden is looking for something specific. One day, while digging, Stanley finds a small gold tube. It looks like a lipstick tube. He gives it to X-Ray, the leader of his group. X-Ray pretends to find it the next day. The Warden is excited and orders the boys to dig a bigger hole where X-Ray "found" it.

Stanley later becomes friends with Zero, a quiet camper. Stanley teaches Zero to read. In return, Zero helps Stanley dig part of his holes. This causes an argument with the other campers and the staff. Zero then runs away from the camp. The camp staff decide to pretend Zero was never there. They let him go into the desert, expecting him to die.

A few days later, Stanley escapes to find Zero. He finds Zero hiding under the remains of Sam's old boat. Zero has been eating preserved spiced peaches from jars, which he calls "Sploosh." Zero doesn't want to go back to camp. Stanley then sees a mountain in the distance that looks like a thumbs-up sign. He remembers his great-grandfather found safety on "God's thumb" after Kate Barlow left him in the desert.

They travel across the desert and climb the mountain. There, they find a field of onions, which used to be Sam's farm. The boys eat the onions and find water by digging. Stanley sings Madame Zeroni's song to Hector (Zero). This breaks the family curse. Hector then tells Stanley that he was the one who stole Clyde Livingston's shoes. Stanley asks Hector if he wants to help him dig one last hole.

They return to camp and dig in the hole where Stanley first found the lipstick tube. They unearth a suitcase, and dangerous lizards appear. The Warden and the staff arrive and demand the suitcase. But they back away because of the lizards. The lizards don't bother Stanley and Hector because of the onions they ate. It turns out the Warden is Trout Walker's granddaughter. She has been using the camp and the boys to find Kate Barlow's stolen treasure.

Stanley's lawyer arrives at the camp. She explains that Stanley has been cleared of the theft. Hector says the suitcase belongs to the Yelnats family. This stops the Warden from taking it. Stanley refuses to leave without Hector. He fears the Warden will harm Hector. The lawyer asks for Hector's file, but the camp staff can't find it. So, Hector is also released. Stanley and Hector say goodbye to the other campers. As they drive away, rain finally falls on Green Lake.

The suitcase contains valuable financial papers, worth almost two million dollars. Stanley and Hector split the money. Stanley's family buys a new house. Hector hires people to find his missing mother. Stanley's father also invents a foot odor cure from peaches and onions. He names it "Sploosh," and Clyde Livingston supports it. Camp Green Lake is closed and sold. It becomes a Girl Scouts' camp.

Characters

Camp Green Lake Characters

• Stanley Yelnats IV (also known as "Caveman"): Stanley is a 14-year-old boy. He doesn't have many friends and is often picked on. His family has bad luck, but they always try to be hopeful. Stanley shares this trait. He doesn't have much confidence, but he doesn't get sad easily. This helps him deal with Camp Green Lake. He sometimes blames his great-great-grandfather for his troubles. As the story goes on, Stanley becomes stronger. He learns to stand up for himself and his friends. He even steals a truck to find Zero.

• Zero (Hector Zeroni): Zero is the best digger at Camp Green Lake. The other boys and counselors think he is "stupid" or a "nothing." He can't read or write. But he is smart and strong. He even breaks Mr. Pendanski's nose with a shovel after being teased too much. Zero is usually quiet because he doesn't like people making fun of him. He often has a serious look on his face. Zero becomes close friends with Stanley. He is honest and admits he stole the shoes Stanley was blamed for. Zero is the great-great-great-grandson of Madame Zeroni. He has been homeless for most of his life. He was left by his mother when he was very young. Even though he has suffered, he always finds a way to keep going.

• X-Ray (Rex Washburn): X-Ray is the unofficial leader of the boys in Group D. He decides Stanley's nickname will be Caveman. He also sets the order for getting water. X-Ray stays the leader even though he is small and can barely see without his glasses. He convinces Stanley to give him the lipstick tube Stanley finds. This way, X-Ray gets the day off. X-Ray keeps his leadership by giving rewards and making friends. When Stanley is nice to X-Ray, X-Ray is nice back and defends him. But when Stanley becomes friends with Zero, X-Ray feels threatened and acts mean towards Stanley. His nickname, X-Ray, comes from his real name, Rex, spelled backward in a fun way.

• Squid (Alan): Squid is another boy in Group D. He often teases Stanley about sending and getting letters from his mother. Like X-Ray, Squid is tough but follows X-Ray's rules. He also has a sensitive side. Stanley once hears him crying at night. Alan asks Stanley to write to his mother when Stanley leaves Camp Green Lake.

• Magnet (José): Magnet is also in Group D. He got his nickname because he is good at stealing things. He says his fingers are like "little magnets." He was sent to Camp Green Lake for stealing animals from a zoo.

• Armpit (Theodore Johnson): Armpit is one of X-Ray's close friends. He pushes Stanley when Stanley calls him Theodore. His nickname comes from being stung by a scorpion at camp. The venom made his armpit hurt, and he complained about it a lot.

• ZigZag (Ricky): ZigZag is the tallest kid in Group D. His frizzy hair makes him look like he's been shocked. Stanley thinks he is the weirdest and craziest kid at camp. ZigZag once hit Stanley on the head with a shovel and didn't apologize. ZigZag sometimes acts very worried or suspicious, which adds to his "craziness."

• Twitch (Brian): Twitch is a car thief. He arrives at camp after Stanley.

• The Warden (Ms. Walker): The Warden runs Camp Green Lake. She is violent, mean, and rude. She uses her power to make the campers do what she wants. She has hidden cameras to spy on them. Stanley even thinks she has cameras in the showers. She wears nail polish made with rattlesnake venom. She scratches anyone who makes her angry. She makes the campers dig holes to find Kate Barlow's hidden treasure. She is the granddaughter of Charles "Trout" Walker. Her family has been digging for the treasure since she was born, but they haven't found it.

• Mr. Sir (Marion Seville): Mr. Sir is one of the counselors at Camp Green Lake. He is always eating sunflower seeds because he quit smoking. He is known for being rude and tough.

• Mr. Pendanski: Mr. Pendanski is in charge of Group D. He seems friendly at first, but he is just as mean as the Warden and Mr. Sir. He constantly makes fun of Zero. This leads to Zero hitting him in the face with a shovel.

Green Lake Town Characters

• Katherine Barlow (Kissin' Kate Barlow): Katherine Barlow was a kind and smart schoolteacher in Green Lake. This was 110 years before Stanley arrived. She fell in love with Sam, an onion farmer. Even though most white people in town were unfair to black people, Kate didn't care about skin color. She loved Sam for who he was. When Kate and Sam kissed, angry townspeople killed Sam and burned her schoolhouse. Kate was heartbroken. She became Kissin' Kate Barlow, a feared outlaw. She always left a kiss mark on the men she killed. If she only robbed them, she left them in the hot desert. She was the outlaw who robbed Stanley Yelnats I, Stanley's ancestor. Kate died when a yellow-spotted lizard bit her foot. She died laughing because the Walker family would never find her treasure. The lipstick tube Stanley finds was hers.

• Sam: Sam was an African-American farmer in Green Lake, Texas. He grew onions and believed they could cure anything. He made many remedies from onions. He also loved his donkey, Mary Lou. His friendship with Kate began when he traded onions for her jars of peaches. Charles "Trout" Walker murdered him.

• Charles "Trout" Walker: Trout Walker was a very spoiled son of a rich family in Green Lake. He got angry when Kate refused to date him. This made him lead the townspeople to burn the schoolhouse and kill Sam. His nickname "Trout" came from a foot problem that made his feet smell like dead fish. After Kate became an outlaw, he married Linda Miller. But his family lost everything when the lake dried up. He is the Warden's grandfather. After he died, the juvenile detention camp was opened to help find Kate Barlow's hidden treasure.

• Stanley Yelnats I: Stanley Yelnats I was Elya Yelnats' son and Stanley Yelnats IV's great-grandfather. Kate Barlow stole his treasure while he was moving from New York to California. He survived by climbing a thumb-shaped mountain, "God's Thumb." This mountain turned out to be Sam's old onion field.

Latvia Characters (Mid-1800s)

• Elya Yelnats: Elya is Stanley's great-great-grandfather. He is often called Stanley's "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather." He is blamed for all the Yelnats family's bad luck. He is thought to be the reason for their curse. He fell in love with a woman in Latvia. He traveled to America but forgot a promise he made to an old woman named Madame Zeroni. This caused generations of bad luck for the Yelnats family. However, he did pass down an important song Madame Zeroni taught him.

• Madame Zeroni: Madame Zeroni is Hector Zeroni's (Zero's) great-great-great-grandmother. She was a good friend to Elya Yelnats. She gave him a pig. Because Elya broke his promise to carry her up the mountain, she is believed to have put a "curse" on the Yelnats family.

• Myra Menke: Myra was the most beautiful girl in Elya and Madame Zeroni's Latvian village. Madame Zeroni compared her to a flowerpot. Myra's father promised her hand in marriage to the man who could raise the fattest pig. When Elya and Igor Barkov's pigs were the same size, Myra asked them to guess a number between 1 and 10. This showed she couldn't make her own choices.

• Igor Barkov: Igor was Elya's rival for Myra Menke's hand. He was older and heavy but a successful pig farmer.

Other Characters

• Mr. Yelnats (Stanley Yelnats III): Mr. Yelnats is Stanley's father. He is an inventor and very smart, but also very unlucky. He tried to find a way to reuse old sneakers. This made the Yelnats' apartment smell bad. But he later invented a cure for foot odor. It allowed him to hire a lawyer, Ms. Morengo, to get Stanley out of Camp Green Lake.

• Mrs. Yelnats: Mrs. Yelnats is Stanley's mother. She doesn't believe in curses. But she often points out how much bad luck the Yelnats family has.

• Barf Bag (Louis): Barf Bag was a camper who left Camp Green Lake before Stanley arrived. He purposely let a rattlesnake bite him so he would be sent to the hospital.

Setting

Camp Green Lake is located in the U.S. state of Texas. The name "Green Lake" is misleading. The area is a dry, empty desert. The only weather is the hot sun. No rain has fallen there since Sam was murdered. The only plants mentioned are two oak trees in front of the Warden's cabin. The book says, "the Warden owns the shade." The old town of Green Lake is next to the dried-up lakebed.

Camp Green Lake is a place for young people who have gotten into trouble. The campers spend most of their time digging holes. Most of the book switches between Stanley's story in the present day. It also tells the story of Elya Yelnats in Latvia (in the mid-1800s). And it tells the story of Katherine Barlow in the town of Green Lake (about a generation later). Later parts of the book focus more on the present.

Themes

Fairy Tales

The book Holes has many ideas found in old folk tales or fairy tales. This is clear in both Stanley's and Elya's stories. Elya goes on an adventure to win the girl he loves. He also has to prove his worth. He ends up under a witch's curse. Stanley's bad luck is blamed on this curse. His family easily believes in its power. Both Stanley and Elya are like fairy tale heroes. They are good and brave. They must overcome challenges that seem meant for them. Both stories also have magic. This magic is seen in the mountain stream, Madame Zeroni's song, and the healing power of onions. These parts of Holes are very much like elements often found in fairy tales.

Names

Names are an important theme in the book. They help the characters separate their lives at Camp Green Lake from their lives outside. Names also show irony. For example, Camp Green Lake is not a camp, it's in a desert, and there's no lake. The "campers" give themselves nicknames like Armpit and X-Ray. The guards are called "counselors." One counselor is even called "Mom," showing that parents are not around at Camp Green Lake. Only the woman in charge is called "Warden," like in a prison. These different names help the boys bond. They form a team because they all dislike their work and the counselors. Many characters also have names that link them to their family history. For example, "Stanley Yelnats" is passed down. Zero's last name, Zeroni, connects him to his ancestor. These names remind them how their family's past actions affect their lives today. Stanley is the fourth "Stanley Yelnats" in his family. This name is special because it reads the same forwards and backward (palindromic). This adds to the idea of family history.

Hard Work

Hard work is a big theme in the novel. The children are forced to dig holes every day at Camp Green Lake. This idea is unusual in children's books. Many authors show children as carefree and without responsibilities. If children do work in books, it's usually like play. But in Holes, the children do hard, forced labor every day. This is mentioned at the start of the book. The camp's purpose is stated: "If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy."

Movie Version

In 2003, Walt Disney Pictures released a movie version of Holes. It was directed by Andrew Davis and written by Louis Sachar, the author of the book.

Other Books in the Series

Two other books have been written that go along with Holes: Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake (2003) and Small Steps (2006).

Stanley Yelnats's Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake

Louis Sachar, the author, said this book is for anyone who might end up at Camp Green Lake. It's written from Stanley's point of view. It gives advice on things like scorpions, rattlesnakes, and yellow-spotted lizards.

Small Steps

This book is a sequel to Holes. It follows Armpit, a former camper, who is now 17 years old. He is trying to deal with challenges as an African American teenager with a past criminal record. He makes a new friend named Ginny, who has cerebral palsy. He also reunites with his old friend X-Ray. The story includes a plan to sell concert tickets, a famous pop singer, and a situation where Armpit is framed for something he didn't do. All these events test Armpit's promise to "Just take small steps and keep moving forward."

Yellow-spotted Lizards

Yellow-spotted lizards are a very important part of the story in Holes. The book says that one bite from them means you will die. In the book, they don't like onions, are aggressive, and live in nests. In real life, yellow-spotted lizards are not aggressive towards people. They are actually shy and don't live in nests.

See also

In Spanish: Hoyos (novela) para niños