Holes by Louis Sachar

Holes by Louis Sachar

Winner of the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award This #1 New York Times bestseller is a modern classic that will remind readers that adventure is right around the corner--or just under your feet

Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes.

It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment--and redemption.

Includes a double bonus: an excerpt from Small Steps, the follow-up to Holes, as well as an excerpt from the New York Times bestseller Fuzzy Mud.

A smart jigsaw puzzle of a novel. --The New York Times

WINER OF THE BOSTON GLOBE-HORN BOK AWARD
A NEW YORK TIMES BOK REVIEW NOTABLE CHILDREN'S BOK
SELECTED FOR NUMEROUS BEST BOK OF THE YEAR AND ALA HONORS

Childhood MemoriesAs writer of books for elementary school students, Louis Sachar tries to recall what it felt like for him to be that age. Despite the notion that times have changed, he thinks that kids in grade school are basically the same as they were when he was young. For example, in East Meadow, New York, where Sachar was born, he remembers having to keep away from the woods across the street to avoid the older, tough kids who played there. Looking back now, he thinks those tough kids were probably only eleven or twelve years old! When Sachar turned nine, his family moved to Orange County in California, which, at the time, was mostly orange groves. He cut through the orange groves on the way to school, and had orange fights on the way home. The Path to Becoming an AuthorIt wasn't until high school that Sachar began to love reading. In college, he developed a particular interest in Russian literature and somehow got the ridiculous ambitious notion to learn the language and read his favorite Russian authors in the original language. After taking over a year of Russian, he realized it was still Greek to him. Sachar dropped out of Russian class and tried to figure out what class he should take instead. As he wandered across the campus, he saw an elementary school girl handing out pieces of paper. He took one from her. It read: 'Help. We need teachers' aides at our school. Earn three units of credit.' Prior to that time, Sachar had no interest whatsoever in kids. However, he signed up to be a teacher's aide because he needed to take something other than Russian, and it sounded easy. It turned out to be not only his favorite class, but also the most important class Sachar took during his college career. After he was at the school for a while, he was asked to be the 'Noon Time Supervisor.' It was his job to watch over the kids during lunch. Sachar played games with the kids who all called him 'Louis, the Yard Teacher.' The Story Behind Sideways StoriesAround that time Sachar came upon In Our Town by Damon Runyon, a book of very short stories about different characters in a town. It gave him the idea for Sideways Stories from Wayside School, which is a book of short stories about different kids in a school. All the kids are named after kids he knew at the school where he worked. 'Louis the Yard Teacher, ' is also a character. Sachar says he had more fun writing that book than any of his others, because it was just a hobby then, and he never truly expected to be published. A Career Choice Sideways Stories from Wayside School was published just as Sachar began law school. For six years he struggled over trying to decide between being an author or a lawyer. During the time that he finished law school and took a job as a lawyer, Sachar wrote three more children's books. His decision had been made. Sachar has been an attorney since 1981, but has chosen to devote his time to writing children's books.

SKU	GOR001570397
ISBN 13	9780374332655
ISBN 10	0374332657
Title	Holes
Author	Louis Sachar
Condition	Very Good
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc
Year published	1998-08-20
Number of pages	240
Prizes	Short-listed for United States National Book Awards: Young People's Literature 1998
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us