holes book review questions

Louis Sachar

Ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Louis Sachar's Holes . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Holes: Introduction

Holes: plot summary, holes: detailed summary & analysis, holes: themes, holes: quotes, holes: characters, holes: symbols, holes: theme wheel, brief biography of louis sachar.

Historical Context of Holes

Other books related to holes.

• Full Title: Holes
• When Written: 1997-98
• Where Written: Texas, USA
• When Published: 1998
• Literary Period: Contemporary
• Genre: Children's/Young Adult Fiction; Adventure Novel
• Setting: Latvia, mid-1800s; Green Lake, TX 1880s; Camp Green Lake, late 1990s
• Climax: Ms. Morengo arrives, allowing Stanley and Hector to safely climb out of a hole with the mysterious suitcase and escape the Warden
• Antagonist: Trout Walker, the Warden, and the counselors
• Point of View: Third person omniscient

Extra Credit for Holes

Reading Should Be Fun. Sachar has said that he writes the kind of books he does (funny, with outlandish characters) with the intention of making reading enjoyable for young readers.

Sigourney Weaver. Sigourney Weaver, who plays the Warden in the film adaptation of Holes , initially expressed interest in working on the project due to the fact that her daughter loves the novel.

• Member Login
• Library Patron Login

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR

FREE NEWSLETTERS

Search: Title Author Article Search String:

Reviews of Holes by Louis Sachar

Summary | Excerpt | Reading Guide | Reviews | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio

by Louis Sachar

Critics' Opinion:

Readers' Opinion:

• Literary Fiction
• Young Adults
• 1980s & '90s
• 1st in Series
• Jewish Authors

Rate this book

Buy This Book

About this Book

• Reading Guide

Book Summary

Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption. Ages 10+

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 Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the warden makes the boys "build character" by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. 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. Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption.

Stanley Yelnats was the only passenger on the bus, not counting the driver or the guard. The guard sat next to the driver with his seat turned around facing Stanley. A rifle lay across his lap. Stanley was sitting about ten rows back, handcuffed to his armrest. His backpack lay on the seat next to him. It contained his toothbrush, toothpaste, and a box of stationary his mother had given him. He’d promised to write to her at least once a week. He looked out the window, although there wasn’t much to see—mostly fields of hay and cotton. He was on a long bus ride to nowhere. The bus wasn’t air-conditioned, and the hot heavy air was almost as stifling as the handcuffs. Stanley and his parents had tried to pretend that he was just going away to camp for a while, just like rich kids do. When Stanley was younger he ...

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

• "Beyond the Book" articles
• Free books to read and review (US only)
• Find books by time period, setting & theme
• Read-alike suggestions by book and author
• Book club discussions
• and much more!
• Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
• More about membership!

Media Reviews

Reader reviews.

Write your own review!

Read-Alikes

• Genres & Themes

If you liked Holes, try these:

The Death-Defying Pepper Roux

by Geraldine McCaughrean

Published 2012

About this book

More by this author

Pepper's fourteenth birthday is a momentous one. It's the day he's supposed to die. Everyone seems resigned to it—even Pepper, although he would much prefer to live. But can you sidestep Fate? Jump sideways into a different life?

Solace of the Road

by Siobhan Dowd

Published 2011

Memories of mum are the only thing that make Holly Hogan happy. Then she finds the wig, and everything changes. Wearing the long, flowing blond locks she feels transformed. She’s not Holly anymore, she’s Solace: the girl with the slinkster walk and the supersharp talk.

Books with similar themes

Support bookbrowse.

Join our inner reading circle, go ad-free and get way more!

Find out more

BookBrowse Book Club

Members Recommend

The Flower Sisters by Michelle Collins Anderson

From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.

The House on Biscayne Bay by Chanel Cleeton

As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.

Win This Book

The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu

Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.

Solve this clue:

and be entered to win..

Your guide to exceptional           books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info and giveaways by email.

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Holes by Louis sachar - review

I would call this book ... weird. It's really unusual, but it's amazing at the same time!

Stanley Yelnats has been sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention center for boys. But the boys at Camp Green Lake have to do an unusual thing. Every day they have to dig a hole, five feet deep and five feet wide. Camp Green Lake calls the place they dig a lake, but really it's all dried up. It's enormous, and it's the perfect, tiring surface for digging holes.

The first hole's the worst. No, the second. Actually, the third.

Every day it seems to get tougher. But soon, that stops. Stanley gets used to it, and although the days are swelteringly hot, and their water bottles are normally empty, the holes start to get easier.

He's made friends. Pretty much, anyway. Stanley's known as Caveman. Then there's Armpit, X-Ray, Magnet, Squid, Zigzag and finally Zero. Odd, mysterious, Zero. He hardly ever talks. Stanley's desperate to figure him out. And soon enough, he gets the chance. Stanley get Zero are stuck together. On the verge of death.

I would give this book 9/10 and strongly recommend it for anyone who's looking for something a little different. It's full of adventure and questions and had me up reading for most of the night, desperate to find out what happens. So please, please read this book!

Want to tell the world about a book you've read? Join the site and send us your review!

• Children's books
• Children's books: 8-12 years
• Friendship books for children and teens
• Children and teenagers
• Adventure books (children and teens)
• children's user reviews

Most viewed

• ADMIN AREA MY BOOKSHELF MY DASHBOARD MY PROFILE SIGN OUT SIGN IN

by Louis Sachar ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1998

Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this...

Sentenced to a brutal juvenile detention camp for a crime he didn't commit, a wimpy teenager turns four generations of bad family luck around in this sunburnt tale of courage, obsession, and buried treasure from Sachar ( Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger , 1995, etc.).

Driven mad by the murder of her black beau, a schoolteacher turns on the once-friendly, verdant town of Green Lake, Texas, becomes feared bandit Kissin' Kate Barlow, and dies, laughing, without revealing where she buried her stash. A century of rainless years later, lake and town are memories—but, with the involuntary help of gangs of juvenile offenders, the last descendant of the last residents is still digging. Enter Stanley Yelnats IV, great-grandson of one of Kissin' Kate's victims and the latest to fall to the family curse of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; under the direction of The Warden, a woman with rattlesnake venom polish on her long nails, Stanley and each of his fellow inmates dig a hole a day in the rock-hard lake bed. Weeks of punishing labor later, Stanley digs up a clue, but is canny enough to conceal the information of which hole it came from. Through flashbacks, Sachar weaves a complex net of hidden relationships and well-timed revelations as he puts his slightly larger-than-life characters under a sun so punishing that readers will be reaching for water bottles.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998

ISBN: 978-0-374-33265-5

Page Count: 233

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2000

CHILDREN'S MYSTERY & THRILLER | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

Share your opinion of this book

More by Louis Sachar

BOOK REVIEW

by Louis Sachar ; illustrated by Tim Heitz

by Louis Sachar

THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL

From the school for good and evil series , vol. 1.

by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013

Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.

Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.

Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and  her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).

Pub Date: May 14, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2

Page Count: 496

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

More In The Series

by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno

More by Soman Chainani

by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by RaidesArt

by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Julia Iredale

More About This Book

BOOK TO SCREEN

CLUES TO THE UNIVERSE

by Christina Li ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 12, 2021

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.

An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.

Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.

Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

More by Christina Li

by Christina Li

• Discover Books Fiction Thriller & Suspense Mystery & Detective Romance Science Fiction & Fantasy Nonfiction Biography & Memoir Teens & Young Adult Children's
• News & Features Bestsellers Book Lists Profiles Perspectives Awards Seen & Heard Book to Screen Kirkus TV videos In the News
• Kirkus Prize Winners & Finalists About the Kirkus Prize Kirkus Prize Judges
• Magazine Current Issue All Issues Manage My Subscription Subscribe
• Writers’ Center Hire a Professional Book Editor Get Your Book Reviewed Advertise Your Book Launch a Pro Connect Author Page Learn About The Book Industry
• More Kirkus Diversity Collections Kirkus Pro Connect My Account/Login
• About Kirkus History Our Team Contest FAQ Press Center Info For Publishers
• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• Reprints, Permission & Excerpting Policy

© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Popular in this Genre

Hey there, book lover.

We’re glad you found a book that interests you!

Please select an existing bookshelf

Create a new bookshelf.

We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!

Please sign up to continue.

It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!

Already have an account? Log in.

Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.

Almost there!

• Industry Professional

Welcome Back!

Sign in using your Kirkus account

Contact us: 1-800-316-9361 or email [email protected].

Don’t fret. We’ll find you.

Magazine Subscribers ( How to Find Your Reader Number )

If You’ve Purchased Author Services

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up.

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Get the app
• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

Explaining the News to Our Kids

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Common sense media reviewers.

Exciting mystery is often intense but occasionally funny.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Though the past and present stories in Holes are f

"When you spend your whole life living in a hole,

Stanley is kind of a nerdy misfit who weighs more

Residents of the camp have fistfights and use shov

Sam and Katherine kiss.

In a flashback, the sheriff of Green Lake sits at

Parents need to know that Louis Sachar's Holes is a moving, action-packed, and sometimes violent mystery that won the Newbery Medal. It's about a boy named Stanley, who's falsely accused of a crime and sent to a juvenile detention center in the middle of a desert in Texas. The story will excite young readers'…

Educational Value

Though the past and present stories in Holes are fictional, they teach readers about the history of racism in the United States. Some information about desert wildlife.

Positive Messages

"When you spend your whole life living in a hole, the only way you can go is up."

Positive Role Models

Stanley is kind of a nerdy misfit who weighs more than others in his peer group. He's resourceful and adaptable when he needs to be, and his problem-solving abilities help him survive Camp Green Lake. In the "historical" parts of the story, Katherine Barlow, who's White, loves Sam, who's Black, despite the racism in her community.

Violence & Scariness

Residents of the camp have fistfights and use shovels as weapons. Guards carry guns. In a flashback, a woman is sexually assaulted by the sheriff, and a racist mob murders a Black man for kissing a White woman. A woman later shoots the sheriff.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

In a flashback, the sheriff of Green Lake sits at his desk drinking whiskey. He tells Katherine, "I always get drunk before a hanging."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Louis Sachar 's Holes is a moving, action-packed, and sometimes violent mystery that won the Newbery Medal. It's about a boy named Stanley, who's falsely accused of a crime and sent to a juvenile detention center in the middle of a desert in Texas. The story will excite young readers' sense of justice, as Stanley is treated most unfairly. In the flashback passages, Katherine, a White woman, loves Sam, a Black man, and they're victims of racist violence. There's threatened as well as real violence in the present-day parts of the book, including fistfights, drawn guns, attacks with shovels, and danger of poisoning. This is a more intense book than many novels for this age group, as some adults in the book treat youngsters as slaves. However, there are some funny moments, and the mysterious ways that past and present connect in the book are engaging at just the right grade level. The book was adapted for a 2003 movie , and there's a good audiobook version read by Kerry Beyer.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (22)
• Kids say (114)

Based on 22 parent reviews

Good book for 5th graders and up

Too dark for younger kids, what's the story.

In HOLES, Stanley Yelnats, falsely convicted of stealing a celebrity's sneakers, is sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention center in the middle of the desert, where each inmate is required to dig a large hole every day. The seasoned prisoners are rough and mean, and the conditions are dreadful, especially compared with the loving home that Stanley has known. As Stanley gets to know the other boys and the grueling routine, he also realizes there's a mystery behind this strange punishment that's related to a treasure and even to the supposed curse on Stanley's family dating back to his "dirty-rotten-pig-stealing" great-grandfather. The keys to the mystery have to do with a long-gone outlaw named Kate Barlow, a young boy called Zero, a greedy warden with rattlesnake venom nail polish, and whatever is buried in the parched desert of Green Lake.

Is It Any Good?

As Louis Sachar's edgy plot weaves between intersecting stories, past and present, the author creates a unique mystery, full of twists and danger. This novel includes violence and cruelty, and it may be somewhat intense for some young readers. However, there are funny moments, too, and mystery lovers will be fascinated as the story unfolds. It's also a great book for parents and teachers to introduce simple concepts of literary analysis and use of language, as the word "holes" has multiple meanings in the book.

This Newbery winner is often a hit with fourth and fifth grade readers who are ready for something that's intellectually a little bit challenging, as well as a fair bit darker than most novels for their grade level.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how Stanley survives Camp Green Lake in Holes . How did his life before the camp prepare him for this experience?

How do Stanley and Zero help each other? How do their different abilities and backgrounds make them useful to each other?

Have you seen the movie of Holes ? How is the film different from the book?

Book Details

• Author : Louis Sachar
• Genre : Adventure
• Topics : Adventures , Friendship , Great Boy Role Models
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Publication date : May 9, 2000
• Publisher's recommended age(s) : 9 - 12
• Number of pages : 233
• Available on : Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
• Award : Newbery Medal and Honors
• Last updated : May 17, 2021

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

The 39 Clues Series

Monster Hunters: Nightmare Academy: Book 1

Half-Moon Investigations

Mystery books, adventure books, related topics.

• Great Boy Role Models

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Addition (Basic)

Addition (Multi-Digit)

Algebra & Pre-Algebra

Comparing Numbers

Daily Math Review

Division (Basic)

Division (Long Division)

Hundreds Charts

Measurement

Multiplication (Basic)

Multiplication (Multi-Digit)

Order of Operations

Place Value

Probability

Skip Counting

Subtraction

Telling Time

Word Problems (Daily)

More Math Worksheets

Reading Comprehension

Reading Comprehension Gr. 1

Reading Comprehension Gr. 2

Reading Comprehension Gr. 3

Reading Comprehension Gr. 4

Reading Comprehension Gr. 5

Reading Comprehension Gr. 6

Reading & Writing

Reading Worksheets

Cause & Effect

Fact & Opinion

Fix the Sentences

Graphic Organizers

Synonyms & Antonyms

Writing Prompts

Writing Story Pictures

Writing Worksheets

More ELA Worksheets

Consonant Sounds

Vowel Sounds

Consonant Blends

Consonant Digraphs

Word Families

More Phonics Worksheets

Early Literacy

Build Sentences

Sight Word Units

Sight Words (Individual)

More Early Literacy

Punctuation

Subjects and Predicates

More Grammar Worksheets

Spelling Lists

Spelling Grade 1

Spelling Grade 2

Spelling Grade 3

Spelling Grade 4

Spelling Grade 5

Spelling Grade 6

More Spelling Worksheets

Chapter Books

Charlotte's Web

Magic Tree House #1

Boxcar Children

More Literacy Units

Animal (Vertebrate) Groups

Butterfly Life Cycle

Electricity

Matter (Solid, Liquid, Gas)

Simple Machines

Space - Solar System

More Science Worksheets

Social Studies

Maps (Geography)

Maps (Map Skills)

More Social Studies

Mother's Day

Father's Day

More Holiday Worksheets

Puzzles & Brain Teasers

Brain Teasers

Logic:  Addition Squares

Mystery Graph Pictures

Number Detective

Lost in the USA

More Thinking Puzzles

Teacher Helpers

Teaching Tools

Award Certificates

More Teacher Helpers

Pre-K and Kindergarten

Alphabet (ABCs)

Numbers and Counting

Shapes (Basic)

More Kindergarten

Worksheet Generator

Word Search Generator

Multiple Choice Generator

Fill-in-the-Blanks Generator

More Generator Tools

Full Website Index

Holes by Louis Sachar

This page contains printables that can be used for a literature study unit on the book Holes , by Louis Sachar. Download and print reading comprehension questions, vocabulary activities, bookmarks, and puzzles to use with the book.

Chapters 1-6

Logged in members can use the Super Teacher Worksheets filing cabinet to save their favorite worksheets.

Quickly access your most used files AND your custom generated worksheets!

Please login to your account or become a member and join our community today to utilize this helpful feature.

Chapters 7-13

Chapters 14-20, chapters 21-28, chapters 29-35, chapters 36-42, chapters 43-50, literature circles.

We have worksheets to go along with dozens of different chapter book titles, including The Giver , Phantom Tollbooth , Mr. Popper's Penguins , Charlotte's Web and many, many more.

Use this Because of Winn-Dixie unit with your class. This page has reading comprehension questions, reading activities, vocabulary worksheets, and a whole book test.

Holes Worksheet Pictures

PDF with answer key:

PDF no answer key:

by Louis Sachar

Holes study guide.

Holes is Louis Sachar 's fifth novel, and probably his most loved. The novel took Sachar a year and a half to write, and was published in 1998. Holes combined huge popular appeal with critical success, as Holes won or was nominated for almost twenty different awards, including the National Book Award (1998) and a Newbery Medal (1999). In 2012, Holes was voted the sixth best children's chapter book of all time by the School Library Journal .

A movie of the book, for which Sachar wrote the screenplay, was produced in 2003 by Walt Disney Pictures. Small Steps , which is not a direct sequel but follows the post-Camp Green Lake lives of some of Holes' minor characters, was published in 2006.

On the subject of the book's genre, scholar Laura Nicosia writes that Holes has been classified at different times as "realistic, a tall tale, a folk tale, a fairy tale, a children’s story, a postmodern novel, a detective fiction and an historical legend" - quite a list for what appears on the surface to be a relatively simple book for kids to read and enjoy. Although it is frequently taught in middle and high school, Holes has also been the subject of serious critical attention, particularly from scholars interested in its portrayal of the past and its postmodern, complex narrative style.

It seems that Holes belongs to that rare and special breed of children's books for grown-ups.

Holes Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Holes is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Write a diary that Kissin' Kate Barlow would have written if she had kept one.

Sorry, this is only a short answer space. We can't do assignments for you.

Find words in holes that stress the ideas of the wasteland and aloneness

He hated to think what kind of vile substance Mr. Sir might have put in it.

Vast / emptiness

"Oh, Sam," she would say, speaking into the vast emptiness.

Chapter 21 Summary

GradeSaver has a complete summary and analysis for Chapter 21 readily available in its study guide for the unit.

Study Guide for Holes

Holes study guide contains a biography of Louis Sachar, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Holes
• Holes Summary
• Character List

Essays for Holes

Holes essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Holes by Louis Sachar.

• The Not So Subtle Portrayal of Supernatural Elements in E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web and Louis Sachar’s Holes

Lesson Plan for Holes

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Holes
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Holes Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Holes

• Introduction

86 pages • 2 hours read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-12

Chapters 13-19

Chapters 20-24

Chapters 25-28

Chapters 29-35

Chapters 36-43

Chapters 44-50

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

Louis Sachar’s 1998 children’s novel, Holes , tells the story of a boy accused of stealing. A judge sentences him to 18 months in a camp where a tyrannical warden has the boys digging holes that appear random. Holes was awarded the 1998 National Book Award and the 1999 Newbery Medal, and was adapted into a film by Disney.

Plot Summary

Get access to this full Study Guide and much more!

• 7,450+ In-Depth Study Guides
• 4,900+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries
• Downloadable PDFs

Stanley Yelnats IV is a 14-year-old boy whose family claims it is cursed due to his “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather” (8). This curse is responsible for him being wrongfully convicted for stealing a pair of tennis shoes once owned by a famous athlete. Although Stanley tells the truth about how the shoes fell out of the sky and hit him in the head, the judge doesn’t believe him and sends him to a detention facility called Camp Green Lake.

When Stanley arrives at Camp Green Lake, he learns that the boys at the detention center must dig a hole five feet wide and five feet deep every single day they are there. According to the Warden , who is in charge of the facility, this builds character. The boys are instructed to pay careful attention while digging; they will be rewarded for bringing the Warden anything interesting.

The SuperSummary difference

• 8x more resources than SparkNotes and CliffsNotes combined
• Study Guides you won ' t find anywhere else
• 100+ new titles every month

From here, the story moves back to the 19th century, to the time of Stanley’s grandfather Elya Yelnats. Elya is desperately in love with Myra, but she has also attracted the attention of an older pig farmer, Igor Barkov. He has offered Myra’s father his heaviest pig in exchange for permission to marry Myra.

Elya thinks that Myra deserves better. He goes to his friend Madame Zeroni, who warns him that Myra is not very intelligent. However, Elya is in love and does not listen to Madame Zeroni. She agrees to help him since she sees that Elya loves her. Madame Zeroni gives him a tiny piglet and tells him that if he climbs the mountain with the piglet every day and lets the pig drink from the spring while singing to it, the pig will soon be bigger than Igor’s. Once this happens, he has to promise to carry Madame Zeroni to the top of the mountain so that she can drink from the spring. If he doesn’t take Madame Zeroni, then he and his family will be doomed.

Elya promises and takes the piglet every morning up the mountain. He almost wins Myra’s hand, except his and Igor’s pigs are the same size. Myra is given the choice, but she cannot choose. Instead, she directs them to guess the number she is thinking of, but Elya has had enough. In his frustration, he forgets his promise to Madame Zeroni and moves to America. He only realizes his mistake while ocean-bound on the ship. Madame Zeroni’s curse follows him, affecting his entire family. The song he sang to the pig becomes a family lullaby.

The story moves to the history of Kissin’ Kate Barlow. It is 110 years earlier and Kate Barlow, a local teacher, falls in love with a local Black onion seller, Sam. When she is seen kissing Sam, the town of Green Lake is in an uproar. Sam is arrested and a mob burns down the schoolhouse.

Kate and Sam try to cross the lake to escape, but Trout (a man who Kate rejected) intercepts them and sinks the boat. Trout shoots Sam and rescues Kate against her will. After Sam dies, no rain falls on the town again.

Kate becomes an outlaw who leaves a trademark lipstick kiss on those she robs. She robs Stanley’s great grandfather, but instead of killing him, she leaves him in the desert where he is eventually rescued. Stanley says he survived because of God’s thumb, but nobody knows what he meant. Stanley is taken to the hospital where he meets and falls in love with a nurse whom he marries.

Twenty years later, Kate goes back to Green Lake and stays in a little cabin, but Trout and his wife, who are broke and desperate for money, intercept her. They try to force her to tell them where she keeps her stolen loot, but she is bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard and dies taunting them.

Back at present-day Camp Green Lake, it is clear the Warden is looking for something while the boys dig holes. During one dig, Stanley finds a tube of lipstick that once belonged to Kate Barlow, but he gives it to X-Ray , the leader of Group D, who convinces Stanley that he needs it more.

The Warden is excited by the discovery. They sift through X-Ray’s hole mistakenly believing that this is where the lipstick was found. Meanwhile, Stanley becomes friends with Zero . Stanley agrees to teach Zero how to read and Zero offers to dig part of Stanley’s hole every day so that Stanley has energy to teach. One day, the boys start to fight because of Zero and Stanley’s arrangement. Zero protects Stanley and then refuses to dig anymore. He hits the counselor Mr. Pendanski with his shovel and runs away. The Warden decides to leave him to die in the desert. After a few days, Stanley decides to go after Zero. Stanley finds him and notices a mountain that looks like a thumb. He remembers that his great-grandfather said he was saved by God’s thumb, so they decide to climb the nearby mountain instead of go back to camp. Zero isn’t feeling well, so Stanley carries Zero, who isn’t feeling well, up most of the mountain. He gives him water that they find at the top, breaking the curse that Madame Zeroni put on Elya Yelnats. Stanley also finds a field of onions; he and Zero and eat them for days to recover. While on the mountain, Stanley begins to believe that the gold lipstick he found in his hole might be where Kissin’ Kate Barlow’s loot is buried, so they return to Stanley’s hole and find a suitcase. The Warden tries to take it from him, but deadly, yellow-spotted lizards appear, forcing him to back away.

The onions make Stanley and Zero invulnerable to the lizards and they stay in the hole overnight. In the morning, an attorney demands Stanley’s release. Stanley and Zero get up and the yellow-spotted lizards don’t bite them. The Warden tries to get the suitcase, but Zero tells her it belongs to Stanley. On the suitcase is the name STANLEY YELNATS. The attorney takes Stanley and Zero (whose records were erased when they thought he was dead) with her out of Green Lake and back to Stanley’s family. They open the suitcase and discover Kate’s loot. The family’s fortunes turn around and rain comes to the city once again.

The book ends with a glimpse into Stanley and Zero’s lives a year and a half later. Stanley’s dad’s invention takes off and he has a Super Bowl ad for their foot deodorizer. Zero reunites with his mother, who abandoned him when he was a young boy.

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now

Related Titles

By Louis Sachar

Louis Sachar

Sideways Stories from Wayside School

Small Steps

The Cardturner

There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom

Featured Collections

Action & Adventure

View Collection

National Book Awards Winners & Finalists

Newbery Medal & Honor Books

Holes, by Louis Sachar | Book Review

Book Review of  Holes The Children’s Book Review

Written by Louis Sachar

Ages 9+ | 272 Pages

Publisher: Scholastic (1998) | ISBN-13: 9780374312640

What to Expect: Mystery and Adventure

Are you ready for adventure? Look no further than this award-winning modern classic!  Holes  is a captivating story of curses, crime, and redemption that keeps readers on the edge.

Follow Stanley Yelnats as he finds himself at Camp Green Lake, a place filled with endless days of digging holes in the hope of character improvement. But as he uncovers the truth about the lake’s past, he realizes he’s on a mission to uncover an even darker secret. With its witty humor and skillful storytelling, this jigsaw puzzle of a novel will keep readers on their toes until the very last page.

The blend of humor and mystery, with scenes happening both in the past and present, leaves readers questioning everything. An unlucky and cursed protagonist, Stanley Yelnats’s character development throughout the novel is incredible, as the cylindrical holes of Camp Green Lake turn out to be anything but mere character-building activities.

Louis Sachar, the author of the magnificent novel  Holes , dedicated a year and a half of his life to crafting this unforgettable story. During the creative process, Sachar displayed immense commitment and attention to detail as he rewrote the story not once or twice but a total of five times to ensure perfection. Interestingly, the novel’s protagonist, Stanley, unwittingly enters Camp Green Lake for precisely the same period it took Sachar to create this fan-favorite novel.

It is worth noting that Sachar transitioned from a successful career as a lawyer to becoming a highly acclaimed writer, receiving accolades that include the distinguished Newbery and National Book Awards. 

An intelligent story that proves adventure exists in the most unexpected of places, kids will happily embark on the must-read, unforgettable literary journey that is  Holes !

Buy the Book

About the author.

Louis Sachar was born in New York. He was inspired to write children’s books after working as a teacher’s aide to gain extra credit. After graduation he worked in a sweater warehouse in Connecticut and wrote at night. He was soon fired from that job and moved onto law school where in his first week of study Sideways Stories From Wayside School was published.

In 2000 Louis Sacher wrote Holes which became both an instant classic and a film starring Sigourney Weaver. Holes was his first book to be published in the UK and continues to prove popular among younger readers. Once Louis Sachar begins writing a new book he refuses to talk to anyone until it is finished and entry to his office is barred apart from his two dogs.

Bianca Schulze reviewed  Holes . Discover more books like  Holes  by reading our reviews and articles tagged with Mystery and Adventures .

• X (Twitter)

Bianca Schulze is the founder of The Children’s Book Review. She is a reader, reviewer, mother and children’s book lover. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, the goal is to share her passion for children’s literature to grow readers. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

Book Review

• Louis Sachar

Readability Age Range

• Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Newbery Medal, 1999; National Book Award for Young People's Literature, 1998; Christopher Award for Juvenile Fiction; ALA Notable Book;Publishers WeeklyNotable Children's Book of the Year

Year Published

This book has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine .

Plot Summary

Wrongly accused of stealing sneakers, Stanley Yelnats is sentenced to 18 months at Camp Green Lake correctional facility. The boys there dig holes daily in the hot sun, supposedly to “build character” — but Stanley soon discovers the warden is actually hunting for a treasure tied to Stanley’s ancestors. As he masters his digging skills and rescues a fellow inmate, Stanley’s self-confidence grows. He also discovers the treasure may be closer than anyone realizes. Flashback tales about Stanley’s family history are woven through his Camp Green Lake experiences.

Christian Beliefs

Characters in Stanley’s flashbacks attribute physical healing to God and suggest that a tragic event was “God’s punishment.”

Other Belief Systems

Stanley and his dad halfway believe in a family curse supposedly placed on Stanley’s great, great grandfather.

Authority Roles

The warden and counselors at Camp Green Lake call the boys stupid, withhold water from them as they work in the hot sun, and sometimes even hurt them enough to draw blood. In one scene, these adults are prepared to shoot Stanley and his friend, Zero, in order to acquire the treasure. X-Ray, one of the young inmates, is leader of the boys in Stanley’s unit; he makes decisions including what order the boys stand in to get water each day. Stanley’s parents, though they show up mainly in Stanley’s memory, are kind and supportive. He lies to them in his letters so they won’t worry about him.

Profanity & Violence

Counselors say, “What the h—?” and take God’s name in vain once. A fair amount of violence occurs as the warden hurts the counselors and inmates, the counselors point guns at the kids, and the kids fight each other. None of the violence is terribly descriptive.

Sexual Content

In a flashback to the time of Stanley’s great grandfather, a white schoolteacher kisses a black peddler she loves. The town lynches him.

Discussion Topics

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Producers often use a book as a springboard for a movie idea or to earn a specific rating. Because of this, a movie may differ from the novel. To better understand how this book and movie differ, compare the book review with Plugged In’s movie review.

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

Latest Book Reviews

The Minor Miracle: The Amazing Adventures of Noah Minor

The Eyes and the Impossible

Castle Reef 2: Bloodlines

Compass and Blade

Nothing Else But Miracles

Waverider (Amulet #9)

Weekly reviews straight to your inbox.

Home — Essay Samples — Philosophy — Fate — Review of the Book Holes by Louis Sachar

Review of The Book Holes by Louis Sachar

• Categories: Fate Holes Book

About this sample

Words: 644 |

Published: Nov 5, 2020

Words: 644 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Works Cited

• Sachar, L. (1998). Holes. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• American Library Association. (1999). Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922-Present. Retrieved from [URL]
• National Book Foundation. (1998). Louis Sachar. Retrieved from [URL]
• Barron, S. A. (2002). CliffsNotes on Sachar's Holes. Hoboken, NJ: Cliffs Notes.
• Spangler, S. (2003). Holes: Classroom Questions. London, UK: Collins Education.
• Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2005). Louis Sachar's Holes (Bloom's Guides). New York, NY: Infobase Publishing.
• Paterson, K. (1999). Digging a Deeper Hole: How the Setting Affects the Story. The New York Times Book Review, 148(51275), 24.
• Havill, J. (2000). Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake. New York, NY: Random House Books for Young Readers.
• Sticksel, S. (2005). Displacing the Cowboy: Masculinity and Anxiety in Louis Sachar's Holes. Children's Literature in Education, 36(1), 61-73. doi:10.1007/s10583-004-7087-0
• Eckert, P., & Pattison, R. (2011). An Eye for an Eye Leaves the Whole World Blind: Stanley Yelnats's Journey Toward Maturity in Holes. Children's Literature in Education, 42(2), 166-180. doi:10.1007/s10583-011-9135-9

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof. Kifaru

Verified writer

• Expert in: Philosophy Literature

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 876 words

2 pages / 828 words

1 pages / 554 words

2 pages / 768 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Fate

The Monkey's Paw, written by W.W. Jacobs, is a classic horror story that explores themes such as fate, greed, and the consequences of tampering with the unknown. In this essay, we will delve into the key theme of the story and [...]

W.W. Jacobs' short story, "The Monkey's Paw," explores the theme of fate and its impact on human lives. Through the use of compelling characters, vivid imagery, and a suspenseful plot, Jacobs emphasizes the unpredictable and [...]

Imagine a kingdom where justice is determined not by a judge or jury, but by the whims of a semi-barbaric king. In Frank R. Stockton's short story, "The Lady or the Tiger," we are transported to such a kingdom, where love, [...]

In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare explores the tragic lives and deaths of the two “star-crossed lovers”. Both Romeo and Juliet are unable to escape their dreadful destiny, even though the strength of their [...]

In the tragedy Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare challenges the notions of destiny and its effect on the lives of two star-crossed lovers. However, Romeo and Juliet’s deaths were arguably based on sequential impulses and [...]

This photo is a portrayal of Show Fate, the nineteenth century regulation that the extension of the US all through the American landmasses was both legitimized and inescapable. The picture passes on the modernization of the new [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

What is Stanley’s last name?

What are the dimensions of the holes that the boys are required to dig at camp green lake.

• A 4 foot diameter, 4 feet deep
• B 3 foot diameter, 3 feet deep
• C 6 foot diameter, 6 feet deep
• D 5 foot diameter, 5 feet deep

What crime is Stanley (falsely) accused of?

• A Stealing the identity of Chuck Livingston
• B Stealing a set of baseball cards from Derrick Dunne
• C Stealing a famous baseball players shoes
• D Stealing a set of gold trophies from his middle school gym

Who does Stanley’s great-great-grandfather Elya believe he was cursed by?

• A Charles (aka Trout) Walker
• C Kissing Kate Barlow
• D Madame Zeroni

What did he steal from the person in question?

• A A suitcase
• C A batch of peach juice

On what do Stanley and Zero survive at the top of the mountain?

What is not a nick-name of a boy at camp green lake, who is stanley’s best friend at camp green wood, who was katherine barlow in love with.

• A The onion seller, Sam
• B The town sheriff
• C The wealthy Charles Walker
• D Stanley Yelnats I

What did Katherine Barlow do as a profession before she became an outlaw?

• B Sharp shooting
• C Embroidery

What is the most dangerous animal in the camp?

• B Yellow spotted lizards
• D Scorpions

What does Stanley’s dad do for a living?

• A He's a shoe salesman.
• B He's a stockbroker.
• C He's a bus driver.
• D He's an inventor.

What possession of Kissing Kate Barlow does Stanley find while digging a hole?

• C A compact case
• D A lipstick case

What does Stanley’s dad successfully invent at the end of the book?

• A A peach energy drink
• B A faster sneaker
• C A cure for foot odor
• D A best-selling peach onion marmalade

What is Zero’s real name?

• A Hector Zeroni
• B Charles Walker
• C Chuck Livingston
• D Zachary Crosswit

Read to see how you did?

• Help Center
• Gift a Book Club
• Beautiful Collections
• Schedule Demo

Book Platform

• Find a Book
• Reading App
• Community Editors

Authors & Illustrators

• Get Your Book Reviewed
• Submit Original Work

Follow Bookroo

Have an account?

Holes by Louis Sachar (Whole Book)

6th - 7th grade.

77 questions

Introducing new   Paper mode

No student devices needed.   Know more

Q1: Where is Camp Green Lake

What was the setting like in Camp Green Lake?

A dry flat wasteland with no lake

Small pool of water and soft dirt

Fertile land with lots of crops

A meadow of flowers with a breeze

Which common animal at Camp Green Lake can kill you?

Yellow Spotted Lizards

Rattlesnakes

Why did Stanley get sent to Camp Green Lake?

He stole some shoes

He stole a baseball bat

He stole a baseball cap

He yeeted a kid out the window

Stanley got to choose between _____ and Camp Green Lake as a punishment. . .

Service Hours

Boarding School

Mr. Maradei's football camp

Whose shoes did Stanley allegedly steal?

Clyde Livingston

What type of family is Stanley from?

What does Stanley Yelnats' apartment smell like?

burning rubber

Who did Stanley blame for all his misfortune?

No-good-dirty-rotton-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather

His father's failed inventions

The boy who teased him in school

Who robbed Stanley's great-grandfather and left him stranded in the desert?

Kissin' Kate Barlow

Stanley took the place of whom in group D?

Bill Maradei

Who is the leader of the gang?

The Muffin Man

The boys used _____________ to measure their holes.

Measuring Tapes

Their Bodies

What was the first thing Stanley found digging in his hole?

X-Ray made a deal with Stanley that if Stanley found anything else he would ______________.

Give it to X-Ray

Give it to the Warden

Throw it away

Sell it on Ebay

Why did Elya Yelnats make a deal with Madame Zeroni?

He loved Myra Menke but she wasn't sure she loved him back

He wanted to be rich

He wanted to be a pig farmer

He wanted to see the future to bet on sports games

What did Elya Yelnats promise Madame Zeroni if she would help him?

To carry her up the mountain to drink from the stream

To steal her a fat pig

To marry Myra Menke

To knit her some socks

Why doesn't Elya marry Myra in the end?

She didn't seem to care if she married Elya or Igor

She was too greedy

Her father wouldn't let him

Igor beat him up

What was the important thing that Stanley found in one of the holes he was digging?

A lipstick tube that says, "KB" on it

A bag of sunflower seeds

A yellow spotted lizard

A magic wand

Who did Stanley give the lipstick tube to?

Selena Gomez

What shoes does the Warden wear?

Black cowboy boots

Hiking boots

Neon Green Reeboks

What unusual ingredient did the Warden's nail polish have in it?

Rattlesnake venom

Dried Lizard Blood

Crushed Fish Scales

What was the most important thing to the Warden?

That the boys were careful not to miss anything while digging

That the holes were dug in straight lines

That they make the holes the perfect size

That the boys were well cared for and their families given detailed reports regarding their welfare

What does the Warden have all over the camp according to the boys?

Microphones and cameras

Chocolate cake and lollipops

Why was the Warden becoming angry at everyone after the lipstick tube was found?

They didn't find anything after the lipstick tube.

They boys were making fun of her.

All the boys kept trying to escape.

She was in love with Mr. Sir and he didn't love her back.

What did Stanley learn about Zero when he was writing to his mom?

Zero never learned how to read and write

Zero was a poet

Zero was obsessed with Sesame Street and watched it all the time when he was little

Zero secretly loved being at Camp Green Lake

What deal did Zero and Stanley make?

Stanley would teach zero to read and Zero would dig part of his holes for him

He would share his food with Zero in exchange for digging tips

That they would one day run away together

That if he found anything again he would give it to Zero

What was stolen from Mr. Sir that started much of the trouble for Stanley?

His cowboy hat

His fidget spinner

Stanley was blamed for stealing the seeds, but who really stole them?

Where did Mr. Sir take Stanley to complain about his stolen seeds?

To the Warden

To his bunk with no supper

To Mr. Pendanski for a lecture

To jail to serve out the rest of his sentence

Was the Warden mad at Stanley for stealing Mr. Sir's seeds?

No, she doesn't believe he did it

Yes, she punished him for it

Why does the Warden slap Mr. Sir?

His complaint about the seeds was keeping Stanley from digging

She didn't like him eating sunflower seeds because the shells make a mess

She was grouchy that day

She wanted to test out her venom nail polish

Which boy witnessed the Warden slapping Mr. Sir?

Bart Simpson

Mickey Mouse

When Stanley's grandfather was robbed and left in the desert, where did he go to survive?

He found refuge on God's Thumb

The hospital

Camp Green Lake

The bus station

While teaching Zero to read, what did Stanley discover about Zero?

He was VERY good at math

He loved puppies

He liked to knit in his spare time

He was the one who stole the seeds

110 years ago, what existed at Camp Green Lake that doesn't exist in Stanley's time?

The largest lake in Texas

A tree fort

Who was Katherine Barlow?

Greek Lake's school teacher

An onion farmer

A warden for a boy's camp

A preacher at the local church

Why did Miss Katherine Barlow get a special prize every year?

She made great spiced peaches

She grew the greatest onions

Her strawberry tarts tasted tolerable

She bribed the judges

Who did everyone expect Kate Barlow to marry?

Trout Walker

Walk the Trouter

Why did everyone think Kate should marry Trout?

He was rich

His feet were smelly

He was taking her class

He was her star pupil

Did Kate accept Trout Walker's proposal?

After the sunflower seed incident, what did Mr. Sir do when Stanley got in line for water?

He poured it on the ground

He gave the canteen to Stanley

Gave him sunflower seeds

Told him that he could have extra

Why did Mr. Sir refuse to give Stanley water?

He was mad at him for getting him in trouble with the Warden

He wanted him to work for his water

He thought that Stanley was stealing water from the others

He was confused because he had been out in the sun too much

What was Katherine Barlow's occupation?

Dinosaur trainer

Who was Sam?

The town bully

A rich, mean, guy

Why did Katherine Barlow keep telling Sam about the broken things in the schoolhouse?

She liked him and wanted an excuse for him to come back

She was unhappy with his work and wanted him to work harder

She wanted the schoolhouse to be perfect for the kids

They paid him good money for fixing the schoolhouse and she wanted to get their money's worth

Why did Hattie Parker say that God would punish Sam and Kate?

She's a bigot and is mad that a black man kissed a white woman

Sam and Kate didn't believe in God

She loved Sam and was jealous

She hates love

Why did Kate Barlow become a criminal?

To get revenge on the sheriff for killing Sam

She had always wanted to be rich

She had a mean strak

She was bored

Why did the boys start to pick fights with Stanley after his deal with Zero?

They were angry because Zero was digging part of his hole every day

He was bigger than they were and they were secretly afraid of him

Stanley was mean to them

They didn't like him because he was the new guy

What is Zero's real name?

Hector Zeroni

Harold Zimmerman

Hank Zipzer

When Kate Barlow returned to Green Lake years later, what happened?

Trout Walker and his wife showed up to rob her

She met Sam, resumed their relationship and they got married

She took her teaching job back

She came to try to build the town back to what it was before the curse

How did Kate get out of showing Trout and Linda Walker where her treasure was buried?

A lizard bit her and she died

She got away from them

She talked them out of robbing her

She tricked them into showing her where THEIR money was

What did Stanley discover Zero was VERY good at?

Telling Stories

When ZigZag started a fight with Stanley, who jumped in to help save Stan?

Hector (Zero)

Mr. Pendanski

After the fight, Stanley realizes why the Warden is having the kids dig holes. Why?

She was looking for something that belongs to Kate Barlow

She wants them to learn from their mistakes

She thinks that they will get healthy with all the exercise

They are just there serving their time, what else are they going to do?

After hitting Mr. Pendanski with the shovel, what did Zero do?

Ran away into the desert

Stole a truck and drove it into a hole

Threw a spotted lizard at the warden

Jumped right into the hole and started to dig again

Why didn't the Warden let Mr. Sir or Mr. Pendanski shoot Zero even though he was running away?

He couldn't get far and she didn't want an investigation

She didn't care that she was down only one digger

She thought that it would waste bullets

She knew that they weren't good shots and would just miss

Why did the Warden have Mr. Pendanski destroy Zero's files?

He had no family and she thought no one would look for him

She wanted to adopt him

She thought that Mr. Pendanski needed another job

She was hoping he would come back

Why did Stanley steal Mr. Sir's truck?

He wanted to find Zero and bring him water

He was looking to go for a ride around the lake

He was hoping that he could make swimming pools out of the holes

He was really, really thirsy

What did Stanley run away toward?

The Wreck Room

What did Stanley find in the middle of the desert?

A part of a boat

A little lake

Whose boat ended up saving Stanley and Zero from the scorching sun?

Sam the Onion Man's boat

Kate Barlow's boat

Trout Walker's boat

The Warden's boat

What did Sploosh end up being?

Old canned peaches

Old canned onions

DelMonte Fruit Salad

As Zero has decided he is NOT going back to Camp Green Lake what is his and Stanley's only chance?

To make it to Big Thumb

To dig a well for water

To try to make their own Sploosh

There is no chance

Why was Stanley's disappearance more trouble for the Warden that Zero's?

Stanley had a family who would come looking for him

Zero was smaller and easier to miss

Stanley digs more holes than Zero

Stanley was smarter because he could read

On their way up the mountain, what did Stanley find in the muddy hole that saved them?

Another jar of Sploosh

A cell phone

On their trek up the mountain, what did Zero confess to Stanley?

He was the one who stole Clyde Livingston's sneakers

He could read all along

He didn't like digging holes

He was at Camp Green Lake for fun

What did Zero and Stanley sneak into the camp to look for? (188)

Kate Barlow's treasure

Some clean clothes

A phone to call for help

Mr. Sir's sunflower seeds

Why couldn't the Warden just reach into the hole and take the case from Stanley and Zero?

They were covered with yellow spotted lizards

Stan and Zero had stolen Mr. Pendanski's gun

The hole was too deep for her to reach them

She decided she didn't want the case that badly

Who (from the past) is the warden related to?

Trout and Linda Walker

Sam the Onion Man

Elya Yelnats

What helps the reader to connect the Warden with Trout and Linda Walker? (CHOOSE ALL THAT APPLY)

All of them wanted the suitcase

Her red hair and freckles

They were all obsessed with digging holes

She told them straight out who her parents were

What is the Warden's plan for staying out of trouble with the law when they find the boys missing?

She was going to say that Stanley died from lizard bites while trying to escape

Make Stanley and Hector promise not to tell on her

Blame it all on Mr. Pendanski

Go back to normal with Stanley and Hector digging holes

Why did Stanley's lawyer come out to Camp Green Lake in the first place?

To tell Stanley that they found out he was innocent

To tell Stanley that he was going to have to serve more time

To bring a letter from Stanley's mom

To drop off Stanley's teddy bear

What lie did the Warden tell the lawyer about the suitcase?

That the kids stole it from her room - it was hers all along

That she hid it out in the holes to keep it safe

That no one should open it because it had lizards in it

That it belonged to Kate Barlow

What loop hole allowed Stanley's lawyer to take Hector with them when they left?

Because there were no files on him, the camp had no claim on Hector.

The Warden wanted him to leave

She was actually Hector's mom

Clyde Livingston refused to press charges

Why didn't the lizards bite Stanley and Hector?

Onions as like repellent to them

They liked Stan and Hector

They are their pets

They are actually nice creatures

How was the Yelnats' curse finally broken?

Stanley carried Hector up the mountain and made up fro Elya's broken promise

The rain washed the curse away

Kate's case had magic in it

The lizards were really unicorns and they cast a happily ever after spell.

Explore all questions with a free account

Continue with email

Continue with phone