I chose Holes by Louis Sachar for the book that I would save if I could only save one book. Although I read it about eight years ago, I have very fond memories of this story. I remember when I was about eight years old, my family and I listened to the audiobook while we were waiting for the Fourth of July fireworks to start. It is a small event, but I have not forgotten it yet, and I am not sure that I will anytime soon. In addition to the fond memories of reading and listening to this story, the movie, starring Shia LaBeouf, is one of my all time favorites.
I watch this movie when I am sick, when I am happy, when I am sad, I watch it every chance that I get. Both the movie and the book brighten my mood whenever I watch or read them. Holes is a feel good story about a teenage boy, Stanley Yelnats, whose family is cursed. Stanley’s “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather” promised a Gypsy, Madame Zeroni, that if she would help him win over a girl, he would carry her up the mountain. Although he received her help, he did not carry her up the mountain, so she cursed him and all of his descendants.
Stanley is walking on the sidewalk and a pair of stolen shoes fall on him. He gets caught and is forced to go to a boys’ correctional facility, Camp Green Lake, where he meets Armpit, Magnet, X-Ray, Squid, Zero, and their counselor who they call Mom. The camp warden forces the boys to dig one five-foot deep, five-foot across hole everyday to find her ancestor Kissin’ Kate Barlow’s loot. Kate Barlow actually stole Stanley’s great-grandfather’s fortune and hid it somewhere at Camp Green Lake. Fate is a large component in this book.
It is fate that Stanley ends up at Camp Green Lake where he meets the woman that stole his great-grandfather’s money’s descendent. At the camp, Stanley becomes quick friends with one quiet boy, Zero. Stanley teaches Zero how to read and write in exchange for Zero helping Stanley dig his hole. One day Zero and Stanley decide to run away from the camp to a mountain. Zero becomes ill and Stanley carries him up the mountain. It is then revealed that Zero is a descendant of Madame Zeroni, and because Stanley carried him up the mountain, the curse off of his family was lifted.
On the top of the mountain, Zero explains that he was sent to Camp Green Lake because he tried to steal the shoes that landed on Stanley which caused Stanley to end up at Camp Green Lake. Again, it is through fate that the two boys met to lift the costly curse off of the Yelnats family. The boys decide to go back to the camp to get food and they discover a suitcase labeled, “Stanley Yelnats” and it is the money that Kate Barlow stole. The curse is lifted and Stanley’s family is now rich.
As a result of fate, a series of unfortunate events occur in order to make everything good in the end. This message of everything happens for a reason, is an important one for mankind to remember. There will always be times where it seems like nothing is going right, like the Yelnats family for generations, but it will always turn out okay, possibly fantastically, in the end. It is important for mankind to use this book to have faith and hope that even though times are tough, it will all be okay in the end.
I hope that my glog was able to communicate that Holes is an important book for mankind to save. In addition to that, I hope my glog was able to give the readers a vision of the characters and the setting so that they can really visualize this story while they are reading it. My glog uses quotes and is able to represent the theme of fate in a way that is easy to understand. Although my glog was able to show all of these things, I believe that I should have gone more into depth and made it less monotoned.
I believe that Holes by Louis Sachar is an important book to save. The message of everything turn out well in the end is very important to give people optimism. As a result of reading this book, a person that is going through a rough patch will be optimistic that everything will turn out alright. I hope that like me, people that read this book will have very fond memories of this book and be able to truly embrace the story and message of Stanley Yelnats and his friends and family.