“I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. Nothing in life is easy. But that’s no reason to give up. You’ll be surprised what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it. After all, you only have one life, so you should try to make the most of it.”–Louis Sachar, Holes

Stanley Yelnats has a problem. He is a victim of the Yelnats Family Curse which first began when his great, great grandfather stole a pig and had a curse placed upon him and all his descendants. The latest iteration of the curse is Stanley being sent unjustly to a juvenile detention center. Camp Green Lake is not your typical juvenile detention center. First of all, there is no lake at Camp Green Lake and the boys spend all day, every day ,digging five foot wide by five foot deep holes as a way to build character. It quickly becomes clear to Stanley that all is not as it seems at Camp Green Lake. He believes the hole digging has a lot more to do with finding something than building character. As Stanley works to determine the truth, danger abounds and long lost secrets come to light.

Since it was written in 2000, this book has been a favorite, especially of middle grade readers. With adventure, dark humor, and an unlikely hero, Holes continues to appeal to kids and adults alike.

Content Advisory: Racism, murder, sexism, child abuse

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