Holes (novel)

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 76.126.112.95 (talk) at 18:24, 1 August 2008 (→‎Armpit: I read the book small stepps and armpit did not steal a bucket of popcorn. he got in a fight because a bucket of popcorn.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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Holes
File:Holes.jpg
2001 Paperback edition cover
AuthorLouis Sachar
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreYoung adult
PublisherFarrar Straus & Giroux Inc
Publication date
1998
Media typePrint (Hardcover or Paperback)
Pages233 pp
ISBNISBN 0-374-33265-7 Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character
Followed byStanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake (2003)' 

Holes is a Newbery Medal-winning novel by Louis Sachar. It was later adapted into a screenplay for the 2003 film by Walt Disney Pictures, which starred Shia LaBeouf and Khleo Thomas and was a critical success. In 2006, Sachar published Small Steps, a companion novel which is about one of the characters from Holes, Armpit.

Main character descriptions

Stanley Yelnats IV/Caveman

Main article: Stanley Yelnats

Stanley Yelnats is a misunderstood obese teenager who is alone and friendless and is rather intelligent. He was sent to a camp for boys who got in truble.Because he was accused of stealing a famous baseball player's sneaker. Unlike his fellow inmates, he does not harden and does not become discompassionate. Stanley's full name is a palindrome, for it is spelled the same way backwards as forwards. He is cursed as well as his family, because of his great-great-grandfather. They always seem to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Armpit

A large African-American boy at Camp Green Lake. Brusque, but loyal to his friends, especially to X-Ray, the self-appointed leader of the group. Although his real name is Theodore, he is nicknamed "Armpit," as explained in the book's sequel, because of pain in the flesh between his arm and his torso. He was sent to Camp Green Lake "because of a bucket of popcorn," which is lightly explained in the book's sequel, Small Steps. He had been sent to Camp Green Lake because of a bucket of popcorn. He had been trying to ease his way along a row of seats at the movies. He was only fourteen at the time, and was making his way past a couple of high school seniors when one of them stuck out his foot. They yelled at him for spilling the popcorn on them, and he demanded that they pay for the popcorn, and by the time it was all over, the two older boys were in the hospital, and he was on his way to Camp Green Lake Juvenile Correctional Facility. In the novel Small Steps, his and X-Ray's life is followed after they leave the camp and they become the best of friends.

Sam

Sam, a handyman and onion salesman, lived in Green Lake during the late 1800s. He sold onions from a cart pulled by his donkey, Mary Lou. Once or twice a week Sam is said to row across the lake to sell his onions, from whose extracts he made many ointments, syrups, lotions, and pastes for curing many different ailments. These assertions are not proven true or false until many years later, during the more modern days of Camp Green Lake. He was asked by Kate to fix the roof of the school. She continued to ask him to fix parts of the school so that she could talk to him. Soon, Kate falls in love with him and they kiss. This kiss was seen by one of the townspeople,and is spread through out the town. This leads to a riot in which Sam is shot and killed.

X-Ray

X-Ray, whose nickname is Pig Latin for his proper name Rex, is D Tent's leader,he is also called T-Rex. He is African American,and is shown in the movie to wear thick glasses. He is street-smart and dictates to the other boys. He, with the others, later accuses Stanley of being racist to Zero, even though X-Ray himself dislikes Zero. At the end of the book, when Camp Green Lake is closed down and the other boys cheer Stanley, X-Ray is seen hanging back, and then leaving by himself. He also, supposedly has the shortest shovel by a fraction of an inch. Mentioned in the sequel Small Steps, X-Ray got put in Camp Green Lake for selling parsley and oregano, saying it was marijuana.

Zero

Main article: Hector Zeroni

Hector Zeroni is the great-great-great grandson of Madame Zeroni. He is a "Ward of the State" which indicates his lack of parents and his homelessness. He is the fastest digger in "Group D" and very skilled at mental math, yet he is considered dumb by the rest of the boys due to his inability to read and because he rarely speaks. He is eventually taught to read by Stanley, with whom he becomes friends. His family retains a version of the song taught by Madame Zeroni, which appears more optimistic than that known to Stanley and his ancestors. He is brought to Camp Green Lake because he was caught stealing shoes from a store, and later defends Stanley from another inmate, Zigzag, who was beating Stanley up. Zero and Stanley leave Camp Green Lake after the Warden is arrested.

Magnet

Magnet, whose real name is José, is a Hispanic, lively character. Magnet steals whatever he can get his hands on; he is at Camp Green Lake because he stole a puppy. He manages to steal Mr. Sir's bag of sunflower seeds, which complicates matters for Stanley later on.

"Kissin" Kate Barlow

Katherine Barlow was Green Lake's only school teacher. She is said to be very beautiful, and is depicted as blonde. She falls in love with Sam, a black onion salesman who occasionally repairs the school. One day the two are seen kissing in the rain, and because of the difference in their race, Sam is killed. From that day she becomes a notorious bank-robber and murderer, Kissin' Kate Barlow, known for kissing the men she kills and leaving a lipstick mark. She eventually robs Stanley Yelnats the First and hides his treasure in the now-desolate lake bottom that has become Camp Green Lake. Trout Walker and his wife returned and captured her to find the location of the treasure. She dies due to a bite from a yellow-spotted lizard.

Mr. Sir

Mr. Sir is a supervisor at the camp. He is severe, arrogant and nasty. Once addicted to smoking tobacco, he has quit smoking and eats sunflower seeds constantly (one bag a week). However, at the end of the story, he starts smoking again on the grounds that 'Sunflower seeds won't cut it.' It is he who often remarks "this isn't a Girl Scout camp", which generates the irony of Camp Green Lake's transformation into just that. He has a tattoo on his left shoulder.

Mr. Pendanski

Mr. Pendanski is one of the camp's counselors. He appears to be the most compassionate of the staff at Camp Green Lake– leading to the nickname "Mom"– but eventually proves himself to be as egocentric as Mr. Sir. He insults Zero at every turn. His name is a play on the word "pedantic".

The Warden

The Warden is the camp's director, and a descendant of Charles "Trout" Walker and Linda Miller Walker. She is secretly trying to find the hidden treasure of Kissin' Kate Barlow. Her ultimate goal is to find the money taken from the first Stanley Yelnats. She lives in the cabin formerly belonging to Kissin' Kate Barlow. It is luxurious and air-conditioned, which contrasts heavily with the hot and strict conditions of the camp. She was forced by her grandparents to dig holes. When the warden came to own Camp Green Lake, she turned it into a juvenile justice facility and forced the campers to dig one hole each day. Ironically, she is related to Stanley, because Elya Yelnats married a woman named Sarah Miller. Sarah Miller's relative was Linda Miller, who married Trout Walker. Their respective descendants were Stanley and The Warden.

Charles "Trout" Walker

During the 1800s, Trout Walker was a wealthy, loud, stupid, egocentric, display-prone local bully. He was Katherine Barlow's student, albeit more for her company than for an education, until she refused to be courted by him. Trout later killed Katherine's secret sweetheart Sam, who is an African American and at the time it was illegal for an African American to kiss a white woman. After Green Lake dried up, Trout Walker's family lost their fortune, for which Linda Miller had married him for. Trout and Linda found Kate in her cabin and dragged her out in onto the dried- up lake bed, not minding to let her put on her shoes. She was forced to walk on the hot ground, being ordered to give them the hidden cash. If she stopped walking, Trout and Linda would hit Kate on the back with a shovel and demanded her again to lead them to the spot or they'd kill her. Kate shows no affection, claiming how she has wanted to die for a long time, and that they'd never find the loot. Kate dies laughing when she's bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard. They never did find the loot.

Madame Zeroni

When Elya was about to get married to the Myra Menke "the dumb princess", Madame Zeroni - The Fortune Teller, asks Elya to carry her up the mountain on the last day or she will put a curse on him. Then he forgot, so the curse was put on the Yelnats's. Stanley the Fourth breaks the curse by carrying Zero up the mountain. And of course Zero is part of Madam Zeroni's family.

Brian (Twitch)

When Zero runs away, Twitch is put in the D Tent. He twitches a lot (hence the nickname), and has a problem with taking cars on joyrides. When Stanley attempts to bring the truck to where Zero is, Twitch yells, "put it in gear!"

Yellow Spotted Lizards

Voracious, venomous lizards about a foot long, with eleven yellow spots, red eyes, black teeth, and white tongues, that inhabit Camp Green Lake. The lizards' venom is toxic enough to kill in seconds, and they inhabit the holes dug by campers, eating insects, small mammals, certain cactus thorns, and sunflower seed shells. The lizards are repelled by onions, much like how vampires are repelled by garlic.

Allusions/references from other works

Awards

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Main article: Holes (film)

In 2003, Disney released a film version of Holes, which was directed by Andrew Davis and written by Louis Sachar. It was a faithful adaptation of the novel and was a modest hit at the box office.

Stageplay

Seattle Children's Theatre professionally premiered the stageplay in April 2002.[1]

References

  1. ^ Gilson, Nancy. (December 4, 2002) Columbus Dispatch Author weaves history of region into "Holes". Features section, page 7G.
Preceded by Newbery Medal recipient
1999 		Succeeded by
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