The book which I am reviewing is 'Holes' by Louis Sachar. The main character in this story is Stanley Yelnats. Stanley Yelnats family has a history of bad luck, so he isn't too surprised when he was unfortunate to be wrongly sent to a juvenile detention centre. At Camp Green Lake the boys must dig a hole each day, five feet deep and five feet across in the dried up lake bed. The warden claims the labour is character building, but it is a lie. Stanley must dig up the truth.
Stanley or 'caveman' is the stereotypical bullied child because he is overweight. He never knew what real friends were until he met the colourfully named 'Armpit', 'X-Ray','Zero', 'Zig-zag' and 'Squid'
I found this book very clever and funny at times. The plot is very good and clever. It takes place in the present, past (about one hundred years ago) and the distant past (three generations ago). A lot of detail is used and every detail is used twice, once in the present and also in the past.
The book is a good length and ends exactly when it should. Louis deals with issues of race and privelege in a shockingly real and understandable way. I would recommend this book to children above the age of 10 because children younger than that may not understand it. I would give it 4.5 stars out of 5.
PADDY KIERNAN
Stanley or 'caveman' is the stereotypical bullied child because he is overweight. He never knew what real friends were until he met the colourfully named 'Armpit', 'X-Ray','Zero', 'Zig-zag' and 'Squid'
I found this book very clever and funny at times. The plot is very good and clever. It takes place in the present, past (about one hundred years ago) and the distant past (three generations ago). A lot of detail is used and every detail is used twice, once in the present and also in the past.
The book is a good length and ends exactly when it should. Louis deals with issues of race and privelege in a shockingly real and understandable way. I would recommend this book to children above the age of 10 because children younger than that may not understand it. I would give it 4.5 stars out of 5.
PADDY KIERNAN