Louis Sachar - wholly a better than average storyteller (Holes - Louis Sachar)

Member Name: apuskiduski

Product:	Holes - Louis Sachar
Date:	20/02/09 (73 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Intertwining of parallel plots, characterization, fear factor

Disadvantages: Over too quickly

I have just finished reading this fantastic book to my Year 6 class of 10 and 11 year olds and its appeal can not be understated.

From start to finish there is a magical ingredient that keeps you wanting more. Maybe it's the fact that you know the main character, Stanley Yelnats, is innocent or that you can actually feel the pain and humiliation of the boys at Camp Green Lake Correctional facility. Or it could be the fact that Louis Sachar ingeniously tells two parallel stories, one in the present and one in the time of Stanley's great grandfather, seamlessly moving between the two.

My class also loved the elements of true friendship that were told through the development of Stanley's relationship with Zero, his illiterate camp mate. The way Stanley agreed to teach Zero to read and in return Zero would dig Stanley's holes for the blood hungry warden. In doing this, he set himself up for unexpected difficulties with other campers that resulted in both boys being out in the blistering heat of the desert for a dangerous amount of time.

The warden and other campers weren't the only things to be avoided at Camp Green Lake, however. The yellow spotted lizards played a major part in the story and had the girls in my class visibly cringing at the thought of them.

I think it would be unfair of me to reveal the plot or the ending, but I think it's definitely worth mentioning that the book was so good that we finished our half term with a viewing of the film to compare the two. I personally think both are equally good, but my class surprisingly said that nothing could beat the book. Excellent news for Louis Sachar.

Summary: You'll strike gold in Louis Sachar's 'Holes'