Holes by Louis Sachar

Summary:
The book was about a boy named Stanlry Yelnats who lives in a small appartment with his family, they say that they are cursed with bad luck because if Stanley's great-great grandfather. One day Stanley was walking and a pair of shoes fell from the sky and hit him in the head. He picked them up and he heard the police behind him so he started running. The police said that Stanley stole them so he was sent to Camp Greenlake. Camp Greenlake is a place teenagers who commited crimes; at the camp they dig holes because the directors at the camp say that it builds character. At Camp Greenlake there is a boy named Hector but everyone calls him Zero. The boys and the adults at the camp always make fun of Zero cause he never talks. Stanley becomes friends with Zero and he teaches him how to read and in return, Zero helps him dig his holes. One day Zero runs away because he doesn't want to be there anymore. A few days later Stanley runs away and goes out to find Zero. He eventually finds him and Stanley remembers his grandfather telling him stories about his great-great grandfather and he says to look for the thumb. Zero gets really tired and dehidrated so Stanley carries him up the mountain where they find onions and water. When Stanley carries Zero up the mountain it breaks the family curse. Stanley is then released from the camp and found not guilty along with Zero.

Review:
I recoment this book to everyone. It doesn't take long to get into the story. I thought it was really good and interesting.

Quote:
"His muscles and hands weren't the only parts of his body that had toughened over the past several weeks. His heart had hardened as well." I chose this quote because it explains how he has changed by the experiences and how he has changed overall as a person.

Summary:
In this book, Stanley Yalnats, a teenaged boy is sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp, because of a crime that he was accused for but did not commit. In this camp the boys are not treated very well, and their job is to dig one hole every day they spend there in the hot summer heat. Throughout his time there, Stanley starts realizing why they dig these holes, it wasn’t just for fun. The reason was that the head of the camp, the Warden, is looking for something. Anything these boys find they must bring back to the Warden, and they are always being watched.
Stanley’s family is known to have some sort of a curse placed upon them, and as the book tells us the first reasoning for the curse was from way back when Stanley’s great-great grandfather went to see Madame Zeroni who was a gypsy. In exchange for the pig, Madame Zeroni wanted a promise, that Elya (the grandfather) would carry her up a hill and sing a song she taught him. He ended up forgetting about it and moving to America where thoughts of Madame Zeroni constantly popped in his head.
Stanley continued digging his holes every day until one of his good juvenile buddies, Zero, runs away, and he follows. Stanley treats Zero as a brother, and at the end of the book they end up together with the load of treasure from the camp, Zero reuniting with his mother he hadn’t seen in years, and the Yalnats curse lifted off their shoulders.

Review:
This book is an amazing read, I could really get into it well. It was descriptive, but only to a satisfactory point. I liked the fact that there was so much linked throughout this story, for example the curse upon the Yalnats family, and the stories behind everything.

Quote:
The quote I would choose is “The town shriveled and dried up along with the lake, and the people who lived there.” I pick this quote because it resembles the way the camp had become to look like it does, very hot and desert-like. The lake was what kept the town alive and healthy, and ever since it dried up so did the rest of the area, and it pretty much is saying the real normal people dried up too.