Welcome to Camp Green Lake (Holes - Louis Sachar)

Member Name: ariom

Product:	Holes - Louis Sachar
Date:	25/10/08 (643 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: short chapters, vivid characters, intricate storyline, simple language

Disadvantages: none

I first came across Holes when a child I was working with chose to read it to me as his reading book. Unfortunately the child took it on holiday when we were halfway through and I didn't hear the end. Since I was on maternity leave, I decided to get a few books to entertain myself and chose this. I got my copy off E-bay for £2.50 including postage. RRP is £6.99 and it is widely available online and in bookstores (as well as most local libraries).

Plot
Stanley Yelnats is convicted of a stealing some trainers when he didn't. Offered the choice of prison or "Camp Green Lake" he chooses camp. Only to find no lake, no green and the only activity on offer is the compulsory digging of holes in the blistering desert heat. The plot follows Stanley as his character moves away from his bullied, shy, overweight character and as he makes more discoveries about the facility and the people who run it. The plot also flits back into the past to reveal the stories of both Stanley's family and the curse they received from his 'no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-gra ndfather' and the past of the town of Green Lake where the camp is situated. The plot contains a lot of intricate criss-crossing and linking up but at the same time gives a clue of this link before stating it plainly so younger readers won't get lost. The chapters are very short (often only a few pages) which should be encouraging for young readers.

Characters
The main character in the book is Stanley and though the book is written in third person, the characters are seen through his eyes. You can feel his sense of cursedness and bad luck as well as his resignation to it from his description of events. I found it easy to empathise with Stanley as the underdog and will him to change things for himself, but I wonder if trendier young children would as easily (especially since the book is commonly used as a school text). The other characters aren't as polarised between good and bad as in other children's books. The camp is run by a Warden who seems to have a lot of mean traits, but then at times is familiar with the campers to undermine her staff, Mr Sir who is strict with the campers, often mean, but seems meek infront of the warden and Mr Pendanski who flits between seeming to be familiar with the campers and siding with the warden and Mr Sir. Also are the boys in Stanley's group who are known by their familiar nicknames. Many of these are only described slightly and it is more the sense of camerady, rank and order from the group that comes across. The only one to be featured in more detail is Zero. Whereas Stanley was an outsider in his school, Zero is the outsider here and Stanley is split between wanting to befriend Zero and sorrow for him, and wanting to fit in with the cooler crowd.

Verdict
I think this book has a lot to offer adults as well as it's target audience which is undoubtedly young readers, probably boys of age 10-14. I found the plot absolutely gripping and found I really cared about the characters. The clever links and twists in the plot are good for keeping you alert and guessing. The young child who read it to me initially said it was one of his favourite books, though it was a diversion from his normal interest in horror.

Summary: I absolutely loved this, and I'm sure many young readers would too