Holes Genre Fiction By: Louis Sachar Done By: Victoria Annette

Setting The novel takes place at a boys’ juvenile detention center situated in the dried up bed of a fictional lake in Texas. Most of the story is set in contemporary time, around the end of the 1990’s.

Characters Stanley “Caveman” Hector Zeroni “Zero” Mr. Sir Mr. Pendanski Warden Rex “X-Ray” Alan “Squid” Jose “Magnet” Theodore “Armpit” Ricky “Zig Zag” Brian “Twitch” Elya “The no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. Madame Kate Barlow

Stanley “Caveman” Poor, overweight, hurt by insensitive teacher, innocent of crime he is being punished for, beat up by smaller bully at school, nicknamed Caveman, Caucasian, doesn’t fight back, hopeful, is Stanley Yelnats IV. He is the fifteen-year-old main character, the protagonist of the novel. His family has a history of bad luck, and accordingly, Stanley is wrongfully convicted of stealing, and is sent to the detention center, Camp Green Lake. He arrives there an overweight boy with low self-esteem, but after befriending Zero and surviving the ordeals in and around Camp Green Lake, he leaves with tremendous physical and emotional strength.

Hector “Zero” Zero is another camper at Camp Green Lake who becomes friends with Stanley. Zero is the best digger and generally thought to be stupid by the counselors and the other boys. In truth, Zero is very smart, although he has never been taught how to read. Zero is the great-great-great-grandson of Madame Zeroni, the woman who put a curse on Stanley's family. Zero has suffered many hardships in his life, even more than Stanley, but he never completely despairs and always shows incredible strength and willpower. Everybody thinks there is nothing in his head, is the smallest, always the first done digging, says he likes to dig holes, doesn’t smile much, can’t read or write, (everyone says he is stupid), no family (?), black, will fight instead of talking, sticks up for Stanley, is really smart, works hard to figure things out, remembers mother.

Mr. Sir The guard, cowboy hat, sunglasses, quit smoking, eats sunflower seeds, has rattlesnake tattoo, is mean. Mr. Sir is one of the counselors at Camp Green Lake. He is tough and mean and is constantly eating sunflower seeds.

Mr. Pendanski The counselor, almost bald, beard, sunburned, nicknamed “Mom”, kind to boys, tries to help, afraid of Warden, (later we find out he wasn’t that caring, he suggests shooting Stanley (?)).

Warden Tall woman, freckles, long red fingernails, cowboy clothing, red hair, bossy, sarcastic, self-involved, just wants treasure, cowboy boots set with turquoise, (daughter of Trout Walker and Linda Miller, had to dig holes as a child.)

Rex “X-Ray” Nicknamed X-Ray, has glasses, is small, has the “shorter” shovel, says he doesn’t see very well, black, (X-Ray is Pig-Latin for Rex.)

Alan “Squid” Nicknamed Squid, is white, cries at night but denies it, is sorry for what he did to get to Camp Green Lake.

Jose “Magnet” Nicknamed Magnet, Hispanic, is a thief and is good at it, steals the sunflower seeds.

Theodore “Armpit” Nicknamed Armpit, black.

Ricky “Zig Zag” Nicknamed Zigzag, has a thin neck with wild blonde hair, won’t lift up another boy’s dirt (selfish, out for himself), Caucasian.

Brian “Twitch” New boy assigned to Group D; real name was Brian. He always fidgeted. He had stolen a car, and claimed he was very good at stealing cars.

Summary Stanley is just a regular kid until he is found responsible for a crime he didn't commit. We learn about a curse that has been in his family for several generations. His bad luck lands Stanley in a very strange correctional camp in the Texas desert. The warden has all the inmates digging holes in a dry lake bed. The story weaves interesting tall tales from local history and Stanley's family. The relationships among the juveniles in the camp are interesting to follow. Stanley finds a good friend, treasure, and learns to like himself.