Nexus resource
Holes for Beginners
Chapter summaries – Part One
Subject:
English
Age range:
8–10, 10–12, 12–14
Topic:
Holes by Louis Sachar
Licence information | This resource is free to use for educational purposes. ©British Council 2015
Source | This resource was originally developed by Deborah Owen and Charlotte Hurley and has
been adapted by EAL Nexus.
Holes: Chapter summaries
Part One: You Are Entering Camp Green Lake
Chapter 1
There is no lake at Camp Green Lake any more. There was a large lake and a
town there one hundred years ago, but it dried up and all the people left.
Today it is hot and sunny at Camp Green Lake. The only person that can sit
in the shade out of the sun is the Warden. The Warden is the boss at Camp
Green Lake. There are dangerous snakes and scorpions. The boys who live
there could get hurt by the snakes or scorpions. The most dangerous are the
yellow-spotted lizards. If they bite you, you will die.
Key words or phrases with pictures
green
a lake
a snake
a yellow-spotted lizard
shade
a scorpion
bite
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
dried up
©British Council 2015
the boss
camp
one hundred years ago
dangerous
to be hurt
Chapter 2
Camp Green Lake is not a holiday camp. It is a camp for ‘bad’ boys. The
boys must dig holes in the hot sun all day to make them ‘good’. Stanley’s
family are poor. Stanley chooses to go to Camp Green Lake, not to prison,
because he has never been to a holiday camp and he thinks Camp Green
Lake sounds nice.
Key words or phrases with pictures
a prison
a hole
dig
the sun
©British Council 2015
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
holiday camp
poor
bad boy
good boy
make them good
he has never been before
hot
Chapter 3
Stanley is on a hot bus going to Camp Green Lake. He is handcuffed to the
seat. There are two other people on the bus: a man with a gun and the bus
driver. Stanley pretends that he is going to ‘Camp Fun and Games’. It is a
game he played with his toys when he was a little boy.
At home, Stanley has no friends. He is overweight. The kids at his school
tease him about his size.
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Stanley is a good boy. He is innocent. He thinks his bad luck in life is because
of his great-great-grandfather, who stole a pig from a Gypsy. The Gypsy put
a bad curse on his family’s future because he stole the pig.
Stanley thinks about a song his father sang to him called ‘If only’. Stanley’s
father is an inventor. He hasn’t invented anything good yet as he has bad
luck too. His father is also called Stanley. His father collects old sports shoes
(sneakers) and is trying to invent a way to recycle them.
Stanley’s great-grandfather had bad luck too. He had a lot of money but the
outlaw Kissin’ Kate Barlow stole all his money. She robbed him and left him
in the middle of the desert. She didn’t kiss him. She only kissed the men she
killed.
When Stanley gets to Camp Green Lake, it is not green. It is a desert.
Key words or phrases with pictures
handcuffs
a pig
a bus driver
old sports shoes (sneakers)
a desert
money
kiss
a bus
©British Council 2015
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
handcuffed to the seat
he is innocent
bad luck
great-great-grandfather
he stole a pig
Gypsy
to kill
a bad curse
inventor
recycle
outlaw
to steal
a song
she robs him
©British Council 2015
Chapter 4
Stanley gets off the bus. He is very thirsty. The guard takes Stanley to meet
the counsellor called Mr Sir. Mr Sir is eating sunflower seeds. The men have
drinks but do not give a drink to Stanley. Mr Sir is strict. He says the camp is
not for Girl Scouts. It is a hard place. Stanley is given an orange uniform
which he puts on.
Stanley is told to get out of bed at 4.30 in the morning and dig one hole
every day. The hole must be five feet wide and five feet deep. He must
measure his hole with his shovel. There are no fences because nobody tries
to run away, because it is too far from anywhere, too hot and there is no
water to drink. Mr Sir says Stanley will be thirsty a lot.
Key words or phrases with pictures
sunflower seeds
an orange uniform
a drink
a shovel
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
strict
©British Council 2015
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
to meet
guard
five feet wide
five feet deep
to measure
thirsty
to run away
Chapter 5
There are six tents. Stanley’s tent is called D tent. He meets his counsellor,
Mr Pendanski. Mr Pendanski says that he wants to help him. Stanley meets
the other boys that sleep in D tent. The boys are sweaty and dirty.
Stanley is told which bed to sleep in. The last boy that slept in the bed was
called Barf Bag. He is staying in the hospital. The boys all have nicknames
(Armpit, Squid, X-Ray, Magnet and Zigzag) but Mr Pendanski calls them by
their real names (Theodore, Alan, Rex, José and Ricky). Mr Pendanski says
Zero is called Zero because there is ‘nothing inside his head’. The boys call
Mr Pendanski ‘mom’ (like mum).
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Stanley asks Theodore where he can get water. Theodore is angry and
pushes Stanley onto the ground because he did not call him ‘Armpit’.
Key words or phrases with pictures
a bed
sweaty
dirty
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
to get water
nickname
Barf bag
Squid
X-ray
Zigzag
Magnet
Armpit
Zero
©British Council 2015
nothing inside his head
pushes Stanley onto the
ground
Chapter 6
Stanley has a shower. He is only allowed to shower for four minutes in cold
water. Then Stanley has dinner. Dinner is brown meat and vegetables. They
are eating dinner and Stanley tells the other boys why he is at Camp Green
Lake. He tells them it is because he stole Clyde Livingston’s sneakers (a type
of shoes like trainers). The boys don’t believe him. Clyde Livingston is a
famous baseball player with the nickname ‘Sweet Feet’.
Stanley lies in his bed and thinks about what happened before he came to
Camp Green Lake:
One day Stanley missed the bus after school because a smaller boy
dropped his schoolbook in the toilet, so he walked home. The sneakers
fell on his head from a bridge over the road. He didn’t know where they
fell from. They smelt bad, but he took them home for his father to use
for his inventions. He thought the sneakers were good luck (destiny’s
shoes).
Clyde Livingston gave a pair of his old sneakers to a home for children
with nowhere to live (homeless children) so they could sell them to get a
lot of money for them. The sneakers were stolen from the home. The
sneakers were going to be sold for five thousand dollars.
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No one believed Stanley. Stanley feels that he has his family’s bad luck
because of his great-great-grandfather.
Key words or phrases with pictures
a shower
meat
vegetables
a bridge
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
no one believes him
a famous baseball player
to walk home
fell on his head
homeless
going to be sold
©British Council 2015
Chapter 7
Stanley tries to dig his first hole. The ground is very hard and dry so it is
difficult to dig. Zero finds it easy to dig holes. They have canteens filled with
water. The boys all dig in different places around where the lake was before
it dried up.
Mr Pendanski tells Stanley to say if he finds anything ‘interesting or unusual’.
He starts to dig a hole but it is hard work for Stanley.
Stanley thinks about his great-great-grandfather Elya from Latvia.
When Elya was fifteen years old, he wanted to marry a girl called Myra. Elya
asked Myra’s father if he could marry Myra. Myra’s father wanted her to
marry a 57-year-old man called Igor because Igor could give Myra’s father a
fat pig. Elya had nothing to give to Myra’s father.
Elya asked his friend Madame Zeroni to help. Madame Zeroni gave him a tiny
piglet (the runt). She told him to carry the pig up a mountain, make it drink
water from the stream there and sing to it every day. Madame Zeroni taught
Elya a special song to sing to the pig. Every day the pig got bigger and Elya
got stronger. Madame Zeroni told Elya that when the pig grew big, Elya must
carry Madame Zeroni up the mountain. If Elya didn’t carry her up the
mountain, his descendants would be cursed. Elya promised he would.
At Camp Green Lake, Stanley digs. He feels dizzy and his hands hurt. Mr Sir
comes in the water truck and the boys line up to fill their water bottles.
Stanley is at the back of the queue. Stanley thinks about his great-greatgrandfather again:
Elya carried the pig up the mountain every day for two months. On the last
day he didn’t carry the pig up the mountain because he didn’t want to smell
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like a pig. Elya’s pig was now the same size as Igor’s pig, so Myra’s father
couldn’t decide if Myra should marry Elya or Igor. Myra couldn’t decide
either. Elya realised that Myra didn’t love him so he went to America. He
forgot to carry Madame Zeroni up the mountain. He did not believe in the
curse but felt bad. He tried to find Madame Zeroni’s son in America. He fell in
love and married but had lots of bad luck. They had a baby called Stanley.
They changed the special pig song into a song for their baby.
Stanley finishes digging his hole and he is very tired. He is proud of the hole.
Stanley walks back to camp.
Key words or phrases with pictures
a canteen (water bottle)
a stream
a mountain
a baby
a piglet
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
hard
dry
©British Council 2015
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
interesting or unusual
hard work
to drink water
to get bigger
to get stronger
back of the queue
to forget
curse
runt
Chapter 8
The dangerous yellow-spotted lizard has eleven yellow spots and is yellowgreen. It has black teeth and a white tongue. It has big red eyes. Yellowspotted lizards live in holes in the ground where there is shade. If they want
to catch prey, they jump out of the hole. They eat small animals, insects,
cacti and sunflower seeds.
©British Council 2015
Key words or phrases with pictures
the shade
a yellow-spotted lizard
sunflower seeds
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
black teeth
white tongue
red eyes
prey
to jump
©British Council 2015
Chapter 9
Stanley has a shower and gets dressed. He is very tired, because he has just
dug his first hole. He goes into the room the boys use for free time, which
they call the ‘wreck’ room. Everything in there is broken.
Stanley knocks into a big boy by accident. The boy is angry and wants to
fight him, but X-Ray and Armpit help Stanley. They say, ‘You don’t want to
mess with the Caveman.’
Stanley writes a letter to his mother. He doesn’t want his mother to worry
about him so he writes in the letter that he is doing fun activities. Zero
watches him writing with an angry look on his face. Zero asks Stanley if
Clyde Livingston’s shoes had red Xs on the back. Stanley says yes. Armpit
and Squid tell Caveman to come to dinner. Stanley realises that they are
calling him Caveman. This is Stanley’s new nickname.
Key words or phrases with pictures
write a letter
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
free time
wreck
Caveman
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fun activities
Chapter 10
Stanley's second hole is also very hard to dig. While he is digging he finds
the fossil of a fish. Mr Pendanski says if any boys find anything interesting or
unusual, they can stop digging their hole. When the water truck comes
Stanley notices that the boys always line up or queue the same way: X-Ray
first, then Armpit, Squid, Zigzag, Magnet, Zero, and Stanley at the back.
Stanley shows the fish fossil to Mr Pendanski but he says that the fossil is not
what the Warden wants. Stanley has to finish digging his hole.
Key words or phrases with pictures
a fossil
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
hard to dig
fossil of a fish
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Chapter 11
X-Ray tells Stanley to give him any other interesting things that he finds. XRay says that his nickname is ‘pig Latin’ (another word) for his real name,
Rex. X-Ray has bad eyes so he can’t see any interesting things in the holes.
X-Ray says that he has been at the camp for a year and Stanley has only
been there a month, so it is more important for X-Ray to get the day off.
Stanley agrees because he wants X-Ray to like him. Stanley wonders why
everyone does what X-Ray says. Zero is the only boy smaller than X-Ray.
Stanley is the largest boy. Stanley thinks about Derrick Dunne who bullied
him at school. Stanley imagines Derrick Dunne being beaten up by the boys
from the camp.
Key words or phrases with pictures
eyes
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
bad eyes (bad
eyesight)
bullied
beaten up
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Chapter 12
When Stanley finishes digging his second hole he returns to camp. Mr
Pendanski is asking the boys about what jobs they want to do after leaving
Camp Green Lake. Mr Pendanski says, ‘Even you, Zero. You’re not completely
worthless’. He asks Zero what he would like to do when he leaves Camp
Green Lake. Zero glares at Mr Pendanski then says he likes to dig holes.
Key words or phrases with pictures
glare at
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
returns
jobs
worthless
to glare
Chapter 13
Stanley digs another hole every day. It is always too hot and sunny but he
finds digging easier now. One day, he finds a small gold tube with a heart
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engraved on it. Inside the heart are the letters KB. Stanley gives X-Ray the
tube because he had promised X-Ray that he would give him anything
interesting. Because X-Ray has nearly finished digging his hole, Stanley tells
him to wait until tomorrow to show Mr Pendanski the tube. Stanley says that
X-Ray might get a whole day off, not just an hour. X-Ray likes this idea and
hides the tube in his pocket. They line up for water and X-Ray tells Stanley to
line up in front of Zero.
Key words or phrases with pictures
a gold tube
a heart
a pocket
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
he finds digging easier
now
engraved
wait until tomorrow
a whole day off
hides
in front of
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Chapter 14
The next morning, Stanley asks X-Ray if he has the tube. X-Ray shouts at
Stanley. He tells Stanley to leave him alone and says he doesn’t want to talk
to him. Mr Sir shows the boys where they must dig today. Stanley looks for
the mountains in the distance but he can’t see them. Mr Pendanski fills the
boys’ canteens with water. X-Ray shouts. He tells Mr Pendanski that he has
found something. Mr Pendanski goes to tell the Warden. A pickup truck
drives over to the boys. The Warden gets out of the truck. She is wearing
red nail polish. She walks over to X-Ray and asks him if he found the gold
tube here. X-Ray tells her he did. She tells X-Ray he can stop digging for
today. The Warden tells Mr Pendanski to fill all the boys’ canteens with
water. He tells her that he has already filled their canteens. The Warden is
angry with Mr Pendanski. She tells him that if he doesn’t fill up the canteens,
she will make him dig holes. Mr Pendanski fills the canteens with water.
Key words or phrases with pictures
Red nail polish
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
the next morning
shouts at
in the distance
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Chapter 15
The Warden tells Zero to finish digging X-Ray’s hole. She knows Zero is a
fast digger. The Warden tells the boys to work in pairs to dig bigger holes.
They put the dirt from the holes in wheelbarrows. The Warden tells Stanley
to look through the dirt and then dump the dirt away from the holes. The
Warden, Mr Sir and Mr Pendanski watch the boys dig all day. The boys are
given a lot of water so they don’t get thirsty. At the end of the day, the boys
walk back to the compound. Stanley wonders how the Warden knows all
their names. Zigzag says that it is because she has hidden cameras
everywhere. Stanley knows they are digging in the wrong place because he
found the gold tube in a different hole yesterday.
Key words or phrases with pictures
a camera
dirt
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
fast digger
hidden cameras
they are digging in the
wrong place
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Chapter 16
The boys go to the Wreck Room. X-Ray is laughing. He tells Stanley to sit
with him. Stanley looks for hidden cameras but he can’t see any. The next
morning, the Warden takes the boys back to the holes. Stanley pushes the
wheelbarrow because he is a slow digger. He makes sure that he doesn’t put
the dirt from the wheelbarrow on top of where he found the gold tube.
Stanley thinks about what the letters KB might mean. He thinks he could
have seen the gold tube before but he can’t remember where. The Warden
starts to get impatient. She tells the boys to work faster. Later, Stanley gets
a letter from his mother. He reads it when he is on his own. He laughs at a
joke in the letter about a nursery rhyme. Stanley notices Zero behind him.
Stanley tries to explain the joke to Zero, but Zero doesn’t know what a
nursery rhyme is.
Key words or phrases with pictures
a wheelbarrow
reads
a letter
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
laughing
©British Council 2015
to get impatient
a letter from his
mother
joke
nursery rhyme
tries to explain
Chapter 17
The boys dig in the same place for one and a half weeks. The Warden gets
more impatient. Armpit comes back from a toilet break. The Warden gets
angry and pushes him with a pitchfork. He falls in the hole. She tells Mr
Pendanski that he is giving the boys too much water. The boys carry on
digging. They are all digging in one large hole. Zigzag’s shovel hits the side
of Stanley’s head. Stanley’s head is bleeding so Mr Sir bandages his head
with a piece of the sunflower seed sack. Zigzag is angry with Stanley. He
tells Stanley to dig up his dirt because it is covering up Zigzag’s dirt. Zigzag
means the dirt that fell off Stanley’s shovel when Zigzag hit him.
Key words or phrases with pictures
a pitchfork
bleeding
bandage
a sunflower seed sack
©British Council 2015
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
gets more impatient
toilet break
too much water
Chapter 18
The next morning, Mr Sir makes the boys dig holes somewhere else.
Stanley’s head hurts from where Zigzag hit him. The rest of Stanley’s body
doesn’t hurt because his muscles are stronger than before. Stanley is still the
slowest digger, but he is almost as fast as Magnet. Stanley finishes his hole
and goes back to D tent. He writes a letter to his mother. Zero looks over
Stanley’s shoulder while he is writing. Stanley tells Zero not to read the
letter. Zero says that he can’t read. He asks Stanley to teach him to read but
Stanley says no. Stanley doesn’t want to teach Zero to read after a long day
digging holes. He doesn’t think Zero is important enough.
Key words or phrases with pictures
muscles
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Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
somewhere else
stronger than before
slowest digger
almost as fast as
teach him to read
Chapter 19
One night, Stanley hears Squid crying in bed. The next morning, Stanley asks
Squid if he is OK. Squid is angry and threatens to hit Stanley if he asks again.
The boys are digging holes when Magnet shouts, ‘Anybody want some
sunflower seeds?’ Magnet has stolen Mr Sir’s sunflower seeds. The boys
throw the sack of seeds to each other and eat the seeds. Stanley doesn’t
want any seeds. Zigzag throws the sack to Stanley but he doesn’t catch it.
The seeds spill on the ground. Mr Sir comes back. Stanley tries to hide the
sack in his hole. Mr Sir finds the sack and asks Stanley how they got in the
hole. Stanley lies and says that he stole them and then ate them all. Mr Sir
knows Stanley is lying so he takes him to the Warden.
©British Council 2015
Key words or phrases with pictures
crying
throw
eat
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
one night
threatens
has stolen
he doesn’t catch it
the seeds spill
to lie
Chapter 20
Stanley and Mr Sir go inside the Warden’s cabin. Mr Sir tells Stanley to tell
the Warden what happened. Stanley says that he stole the sack of sunflower
seeds. Mr Sir says that he thinks Stanley is lying. The Warden asks Stanley to
bring her a small case from her room. The Warden opens the case. It is a
©British Council 2015
make-up case. Inside the case is nail polish and lipstick tubes and other
make-up. The Warden takes out a jar of dark red nail polish. She tells
Stanley that the special nail polish has rattlesnake venom in it. It is harmless
when it is dry but it is poisonous when it is wet. The Warden paints her nails
with the poisonous nail polish and then scratches Mr Sir’s cheek. Mr Sir
screams and falls over. She tells Mr Sir that she doesn’t care about his
sunflower seeds. Stanley leaves. The Warden tells Stanley that Mr Sir is not
going to die. Unfortunately for Stanley.
Key words or phrases with pictures
make-up case
gold lipstick tube
nail polish
poison
scratch
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
to tell
©British Council 2015
rattlesnake venom
harmless
dry
poisonous
wet
paints her nails
unfortunately for
Stanley
Chapter 21
Stanley walks back to his hole. He realises he will be the last to finish again.
It is a long way. He walks across the wasteland and thinks about his greatgrandfather.
Stanley’s great-grandfather was robbed by Kissin’ Kate Barlow and then she
left him in the desert all alone. He survived for seventeen days in the desert.
A couple of rattlesnake hunters found Stanley’s great-grandfather. He was
insane when they found him. His great-grandfather told everyone that he
survived on God’s thumb. No one knew what his great-grandfather meant.
At Camp Green Lake, the boys are digging holes. Stanley doesn’t tell them
what the Warden did to Mr Sir. Stanley goes over to his hole. It is nearly
finished. Zero has dug Stanley’s hole.
©British Council 2015
Key words or phrases with pictures
wasteland
hunter
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
realises
was robbed
survived
a couple of
insane
God’s thumb
Zero has dug
Chapter 22
Stanley is the first boy to finish digging a hole today. Stanley waits for Zero
to come back to the tent. Stanley asks Zero why he helped him to dig his
hole. Zero replies that it is because Stanley didn’t eat the sunflower seeds.
©British Council 2015
Zero says that Stanley also didn’t steal the sneakers. Stanley says that he will
teach Zero to read because he isn’t tired. He isn’t tired because Zero dug
Stanley’s hole. Stanley starts to teach Zero to say and write the alphabet.
Zero tells Stanley to teach him ten letters each day. Zero works out very
quickly how long it will take to learn all the letters. Stanley realises that Zero
is very good at maths. Zero tells Stanley that he will dig some of Stanley’s
hole every day so he will have more time to teach Zero to read and write.
Later that night, Stanley remembers that he saw a gold tube, like the one in
the Warden’s cabin, in his mother’s bathroom. It is half a lipstick container.
Stanley wonders if KB means Kate Barlow. He wonders if the lipstick
belonged to Kissin’ Kate.
Key words or phrases with pictures
letters
read
write
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
the first
waits
to ask (asks)
to reply (replies)
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the alphabet
maths
remembers
half
Chapter 23
This chapter is about Green Lake one hundred and ten years ago.
Green Lake was the largest lake in Texas. It was full of clear, cool water. In
spring, there were peach trees next to the lake. There was always a town
picnic on the 4th July. The people played games and danced and swam in
the lake. Every year, the pretty schoolteacher Katherine Barlow won a special
prize for her spiced peaches because her peaches were the best. Katherine
picked the peaches and put them in jars with lots of spices. The spiced
peaches stayed fresh all through the winter until they were all eaten.
Katherine taught in a very old schoolhouse. She was a very good teacher and
all the children loved her. Katherine taught adults in the evenings. A man
called Trout Walker came to the lessons. He was loud, rude and stupid. He
was called Trout because his feet smelt of fish. He had a foot fungus the
same as the foot fungus Clyde Livingston had. Trout asked Katherine to take
a ride on his new motorboat but Katherine said no. This made Trout Walker
angry.
©British Council 2015
Key words or phrases with pictures
Texas
spiced peaches
peach trees
foot fungus
a motor boat
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
one hundred and ten
years ago
largest
school teacher
school house
special prize
stay fresh
©British Council 2015
adults
He is loud rude and
stupid.
his feet smell
angry
Chapter 24
The next morning, Stanley sees Mr Sir. Mr Sir’s face is swollen and he has
three purple scars on his cheek. One of the boys asks Mr Sir about the scars.
Mr Sir gets very angry and grabs the boy around the neck until the boy falls
onto the ground. On the lake, the boys ask Stanley about Mr Sir’s scar but
Stanley doesn’t answer. When Mr Sir brings the water for the boys he
doesn’t fill Stanley’s water bottle. He pours Stanley’s water onto the ground.
Key words or phrases with pictures
a scar
pour
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
swollen
©British Council 2015
grabs the boy
he doesn’t fill
onto the ground
Chapter 25
This chapter is about Green Lake one hundred and ten years ago.
There was a doctor in Green Lake called Dr Hawthorn. When the people in
the town got sick, they visited Dr Hawthorn and they also visited Sam, the
onion man. Sam had a cart full of onions. The cart was pulled by a donkey
called Mary-Lou. Sam sold the onions to the people in the town. Sam had an
onion field on the other side of the lake. Every week, Sam rowed a boat
across the lake to pick more onions to put in his cart. Sometimes, Sam took
Mary-Lou in the boat with him. Sam said that Mary-Lou was almost fifty
years old. She was a very old donkey. Sam told people that Mary-Lou only
ate onions. Sam said that if a person only ate onions they would live until
two hundred years old. When people in the town were sick, Sam told them
to eat onions. He also made medicines and ointments from onion juice.
When Katherine Barlow bought onions she told Sam about the holes in the
roof of the schoolhouse. Sam offered to fix the roof. He said he was good at
mending things because he built his own boat. Katherine agreed and said
she would give Sam six jars of spiced peaches. Sam fixed the roof in the
afternoons. This was when there were no classes. Sam was not allowed to
be in the classes because he was a Negro. Katherine talked to Sam while he
fixed the roof and Katherine marked papers. Katherine liked talking to Sam
and they read poems to each other. Katherine was sad when the roof was
©British Council 2015
finished. She wanted to talk to Sam more so she gave him more jobs in the
schoolhouse. Soon, there were no more jobs to do in the schoolhouse so
Sam didn’t come to see Katherine. When Katherine saw Sam selling onions,
she ran out to see him. Katherine and Sam held hands and they kissed.
Hattie Parker saw them kissing and told them that God would punish them.
Key words or phrases with pictures
a doctor
an onion
a cart
sad
a donkey
a rowing boat
hold hands
juice
kiss
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
get sick
onion field
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rows a boat
very old
medicines and
ointments
offers to fix
not allowed
Negro
read poems
sees them
God will punish them
Chapter 26
By the end of the day, everyone in Green Lake knew that Katherine, the
schoolteacher, kissed Sam, the onion man. The next day, no children came
to school. Katherine sat in the schoolroom. She heard a noise outside. There
was a crowd of townspeople who were angry and shouting. Trout Walker
was at the front of the crowd. He shouted at Katherine and called her ‘the
devil woman’. The people destroyed the schoolroom and tore Katherine’s
dress. Even the sheriff of the town didn’t care. The sheriff told Katherine to
kiss him so Katherine slapped him across the face. He asked why she
wouldn’t kiss him if she kissed the onion man. The sheriff said that it was
against the law for a Negro to kiss a white woman and Sam would be
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hanged. Katherine said that she wanted to be hanged too as ‘we’re all equal
under the eyes of God’. The sheriff said that if Katherine kissed him, he
wouldn’t hang Sam. Katherine didn’t kiss the sheriff. She said that the law
would punish Sam and God would punish the sheriff. She ran into the street
and saw that the schoolhouse was on fire. Katherine found Sam and MaryLou by the lake. She told him what had happened. Katherine and Sam went
to his boat. They left Mary-Lou behind. This made Sam cry. Sam rowed the
boat onto the lake but Trout Walker followed them in his new motor boat.
Trout’s boat was very fast. Trout’s boat crashed into Sam’s boat. Sam was
shot and killed and Katherine Barlow was rescued. She didn’t want to be
rescued. Mary-Lou the donkey was shot dead. Three days later, Katherine
shot the sheriff. She put on some red lipstick and kissed the sheriff. For the
next twenty years, Kissin’ Kate Barlow was the most feared outlaw in all the
West.
Key words or phrases with pictures
crowd
a dress
shot
shouting
slap
a tear
hanged
red lipstick
©British Council 2015
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
by the end of the day
no children come
the devil woman
destroy
sheriff
We’re all equal under
the eyes of God
punish
crashes into
to put on
the most feared outlaw
Chapter 27
Stanley digs his hole. The sun is very hot. Stanley is thirsty because he
doesn’t get much water to drink. Mr Sir always pours Stanley’s water on the
floor. This has happened for three days. Mr Pendanski sometimes gives
Stanley water. Zero still digs some of Stanley’s holes. The other boys get
angry when Stanley sits down while Zero is digging Stanley’s hole. Stanley
©British Council 2015
tells the boys that he needs to save energy so he can teach Zero to read.
The boys don’t agree with Stanley. Mr Sir arrives with the water. He still has
a scar on his face. Mr Sir fills Stanley’s bottle with water. Stanley is surprised.
Then, Mr Sir takes the water bottle around to the other side of the truck.
Stanley can’t see what Mr Sir is doing. Mr Sir brings the water bottle back to
Stanley and it is still full of water. Stanley is afraid to drink it because he is
worried what Mr Sir has put into the water. Later, Stanley is so thirsty, he
almost drinks the water. He pours it onto the floor instead.
Later, Stanley teaches Zero the final letters of the alphabet. Zero writes his
own name. Zero tells Stanley that his real name is Hector Zeroni.
Key words or phrases with pictures
a truck
Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
Stanley sits down
he needs to save
energy
surprised
writes his own name
©British Council 2015
Chapter 28
This chapter is about Green Lake ninety years ago.
Twenty years after Sam was killed, Katherine returned to Green Lake. The
peach trees were dead, the lake had dried up and there were no people
there. There was an old abandoned cabin. This was where Katherine lived.
One morning, she woke up and she smelt Trout Walker’s feet. He pointed a
rifle in her face and told her she had ten seconds to tell him where she hid
her loot from being an outlaw or he would shoot her in the head. Katherine
yawned. There was a woman with red hair with Trout. The woman looked in
Katherine’s cabinets and cupboards. The woman was Linda Miller. Katherine
was Linda’s teacher when she was a little girl. When Linda was a little girl,
she was pretty with beautiful red hair. Linda wasn’t pretty now and her hair
was messy and dirty. Linda was Trout’s wife. Trout and Linda asked
Katherine where the loot was again. Linda said that they were desperate.
Trout lost all his money when the lake dried up. Katherine didn’t care that
Trout had a gun. Trout and Linda dragged Katherine outside and tied her
legs together. They told Katherine to take them to the loot. Trout hit
Katherine with a shovel and she fell over. A lizard leapt onto Kate and bit her
ankle. Trout told Katherine to tell him where the loot was but she just
laughed as she died.
Key words or phrases with pictures
a rifle
yawn
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Key words to translate
Word or phrase
Write a translation of this word or phrase
dried up
old abandoned cabin
loot
wife
drag
bites her ankle
laughs as she dies
©British Council 2015