Featured Book: Holes
Holes is the story of a boy named
Stanley Yelnats who belonged to a
family who has been cursed due to
his no rotten pig stealing greatgreat grandfather. His family
included his mom, and dad, who
was an inventor trying to come up
with a product that eliminated the
stench in shoes, along with his
grandfather in small cramped
apartment. One day Stanley was
walking along when the famous
athlete, Sweet Feet’s, shoes fell out
of the sky and he caught them. He
was caught by the police and had a
choice of going to Camp Green
Lake or jail. He chose the camp; he
met Mr. Sir and the Warden who
was a woman who was not very
kind. He was assigned to dig a hole
every day that was five feet wide
and five feet deep, because he was
told it was going to build character.
But in reality the Warden Walker
and Mr. Sir had them dig to find
Kissin’ Kate’s lost treasure. Zero
runs away Stanley goes to find
him, Stanley ends up carrying Zero
up the mountain which breaks the
curse that had been given by Zero’s
great-great grandmother that was
given to Stanley’s great-great
grandfather. Stanley and Zero end
up finding the lost treasure, but
when the Warden finds out and
tries to take it, Zero reads last
name is on the treasure chest
which is Yelnats. In the end,
Stanley’s lawyer gets him from
Camp Green Lake, because he has
been found innocent. After the
lawyer sees the camp, she shuts
down the camp; leaving Stanley
and his family, very well off and
the production of his father’s new
invention.
-Children would connect with this
book because it tells the story of an
underdog who comes out winning in
the end. This would help children
realize just because you aren’t the
top dog now doesn’t mean you won’t
ever be.
Genre: Fiction
Major Works:
-Sideways Stories from Wayside
School – 1978
Louis
Sachar
-Holes – 1998
-Marvin Redpost: Kidnapped at
Birth? – 1992
-Monkey Soup – 1992
-Johnny's in the Basement –
1981
Awards:
-National Book Award for
Young People’s Literature –
1998
-Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Children’s Book Award – 2000
-Newberry Medal Winner - 1999
Louis Sachar was born March 20, 1954 in
East Meadow, New York. He moved around
the time of third grade to Tustin,
California. He didn’t become interested in
reading or school really until high school.
He attended Antioch College in Ohio. For a
short while he had a door to door job selling
cleaning products. Later on he returned to
California where he attended University of
California at Berkeley. He majored in
Economics, he graduated in 1976. During
the time Louis graduated he attempted to
write his first children’s book while
working at a sweater factory. After he got
fired from the sweater factory he went to
law school, at Hastings College of Law in
San Francisco. During the time he was at
Hastings, his first book, “Sideways Stories
from Wayside School” was published. He
graduated law school in 1980, and wrote
children’s books as he worked at a legal job
part time. His books started to pick up
sales around 1989, when he was finally
able to focus on writing full time. He is
married to a woman named Carla with a
daughter named Sherre who is 27 years
old. They are now living in Austin, Texas.
Interesting Facts:
- He writes every morning, two hours or
less.
- He doesn’t talk about a novel until it is
completed. Louis wrote a book in 2006
and his wife and his daughter did not
know about the book until it was
finished.
Sources:
http://www.louissachar.com/Bio.htm
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/louis-sachar
http://www.nationalbook.org/nba1998.html#.VFHAyPnF9qU)
http://libraries.vermont.gov/libraries/cbec/dcf/previousyears)
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/new
beryhonors/newberymedal#90s
http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/6569.Louis_Sachar)
http://www.louissachar.com/HolesBook.htm