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HOLES
Louis Sachar
Stanley Yelnats wasn’t too surprised to find himself at Camp Green Lake, digging holes
in the dried-up lakebed, and day after scorching day. After all, his family had a history of
bad luck.
Chapter 1
This chapter described Camp Green Lake.
 The lake and the town that used to be at Green Lake 100 years ago have gone.
 The only shade belonged to the warden
 Rattlesnakes and scorpions did not kill
 Yellow-spotted lizards did.
Chapter 2.
 Camp Green Lake, a camp for bad boys
 Stanley was from a poor family, he had never been to camp before
 Given the choice between camp and jail he picked camp.
Chapter 3.
Stanley took the bus ride to Camp, and made the best of the situation. Stanley was
described, and so was his life in school, his family life, his family curse and bad luck.
 Stanley was taken under guard to Camp Green Lake
 Picked on at school because he was overweight
 Innocent of the crime
 Family always blamed their great-great-grandfather for bad things that happened
 Father an inventor, also Stanley and always hopeful
 Stanley Yelnats really Stanley Yelnats 1V, all only children
 Stanley Yelnats 1 was rich but was robbed by Kissing’ Kate Barlow when moving
from New York to California
Chapter 4.
Stanley got off the bus, met the guard and was thirsty, but the guard and bus driver
wouldn’t share the cold drinks. Stanley had to strip, and got his jumpsuit, his canteen, and
a cap with a cloth sewn on the back. Told he would always be thirst.
 Run down buildings – some tents
 Stanley met ‘Mr. Sir’
 He was given 2 sets of orange clothes and an empty water bottle
 Told he would have to dig 1 hole a day, 5ft deep 5ft across, the shovel was used
as a measuring stick 7 days a week
 If he found anything interesting he was to report it.
 If the warden liked what he had found he would be given the rest of the day off.
 No fence – no need
 Warned about the yellow spotted lizards.
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Chapter 5.
 Stanley saw the tents numbered A-F.
 Stanley was in D.
 He met the counselor, Mr. Pendanski.
 He was warned not to upset the warden.
 He found out that Lewis was in hospital.
 Lewis’ nickname was BarfBag. (all the boys had nicknames)
 Stanley got BarfBag’s bed.
 You got water for the drinking bottle from the shower stall.
Chapter6.
Stanley told the others about stealing Sweet Feet’s sneakers. The story of how Stanley
really got the sneakers was explained.
 4 minute cold shower
 Clyde Johnston ‘Sweet Feet’ had donated his sneakers to raise money for the
homeless.
 Stanley had been walking home after a miserable day at school. He walked under
a freeway overpass when the sneakers fell from the sky.
 He was arrested.
 His family had no money for a lawyer but believed it would be all right as long as
he told the truth.
Chapter 7.
The story of Stanley’s great,-great- grandfather and his love of a girl in Latvia, and how
he became cursed by Madame Zeroni for not doing as she had asked when she helped
him.
 Stanley was woken very early, before sunrise to go to start digging.
 Xray had his own shovel
 The lakebed was full of holes.
 Mr. Pandanski told them the water truck would come to bring them water.
 If they found anything interesting they were to hand it in.
 Stanley finished his hole with difficulty
 Zero, the smallest of the boys, finished first.
Chapter 8
 Description of the yellow spotted lizard.
Chapter 9.
 Stanley showered in the cold water briefly and enjoyed it.
 He went to the WRECK room and noticed how shabby and poor the conditions
were.
 He began to write a letter to his mum as if it was a real camp
 He tripped over a boy called ‘Caveman’.
 Realised he was ‘Caveman”
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Chapter10.
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Stanley woke feeling very achy.
He had learned not to dump the dirt too close to the edge.
He found an interesting fossil.
Gave it to Mr. Pendanski when the water truck came
Told it was not interesting enough.
Chapter 11.
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Xray asked Stanley to let him know first if he found anything else. Xray admitted
that he had trouble seeing and was unlikely to find anything. He also said it was
unfair for a new boy to get a day off first.
Stanley agreed.
Stanley thought it was interesting that a small boy like Xray was the leader of the
group.
Happy with the nickname ‘Caveman’
As he dug he thought of the group beating up Derrick, from school, one at a time.
Chapter 12.
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Stanley was the last to finish his hole again.
Found the other boys discussing their future with Mr. Pendanski.
Mr. Pendanski told them that you could accomplish anything if you set your mind
to it.
He tried to get Stanley to take responsibility for his trouble rather than blaming
his family curse.
When they talked about what Zero wanted to do he said that he liked to dig holes.
Chapter 13.
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Stanley was getting tougher; it didn’t hurt so much to dig holes.
He had lost track of days.
He found a gold tube with a heart and the initials KB engraved on it.
He tried to think of a way not to give it to Xray.
They thought it was probably a shotgun shell.
Stanley suggested that Xray not hand it in until the morning so as to get a full day
off.
When the water truck arrived, Stanley got to move up a place in line.
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Chapter 14.
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Next morning, Xray snapped at Stanley and wouldn’t talk to him.
Xray claimed to have found the object.
Shortly afterwards the warden came, a woman, Miss Walker.
She gave Xray the day off.
She ordered Mr. Pendanski to fill their water bottles.
Chapter 15.
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The warden inspected the dirt pile where she thought the object had been found.
Stanley knew it was the wrong hole.
She got the boys to work in pairs, one digging the other taking the dirt away by
wheelbarrow.
The warden stayed and watched what they did.
Chapter 16.
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That night Xray was in a good mood, and treated Stanley well.
The next day they dug more, still working in pairs.
The warden became impatient because they have not found anything.
Stanley considered telling her where the object was really found.
That night Stanley received a letter from his mum.
Zero asked about it but didn’t seem to understand what Stanley was saying.
Chapter 17.
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The boys kept digging in the area for a week and a half.
The warden was becoming more impatient.
She jabbed Armpit with a pitchfork and he bled.
Zigzag’s shovel accidentally hit Stanley and cut his neck, but he had to keep
working.
Zigzag made him remove the dirt that had fallen off his shovel when he was hurt.
Chapter 18.
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Back to digging their own holes in another part of the lakebed.
Stanley’s neck hurt but his muscles were stronger.
That night he wrote to his mother and Zero watched him
Zero admitted that he couldn’t read and write and asked Stanley to teach him.
Stanley said that he was too tired to teach.
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Chapter 19.
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Stanley heard Squid cry at night but Squid denied it in the morning.
Stanley realized that they were all dangerous boys and kept quiet.
Magnet stole Mr. Sir’s sunflower seeds and shared them with the boys.
They spilt in Stanley’s hole.
Stanley took the blame for stealing them.
He felt good riding back to camp in the truck, to see the warden.
Chapter 20.
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Stanley was taken to see the warden.
More holes around the cabin where she lived.
He enjoyed the air-conditioning.
She sent Stanley to get a flower-covered case that contained nail polish that she
said was poisoned with rattlesnake venom.
She hit Mr. Sir across the face, leaving scratches; she didn’t care about his seeds.
Stanley had to walk back to the holes.
Chapter 21.
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As he walked back he thought of his great –great- grandfather left in the desert by
Kissing Kate. He had survived by living on God’s thumb.
Almost stepped on a rattlesnake.
When he got back his hole was nearly finished and Zero’s hole was smaller than
the others.
Chapter 22.
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That night Stanley thanked Zero and asked why he had done it.
Zero said because Stanley had not stolen either the sunflower seeds or the
sneakers.
Stanley offered to teach Zero to read.
Stanley was amazed at how good Zero was with numbers.
Zero offered to help Stanley dig his holes as payment for the lessons.
Stanley realized where he had seen the “KB” before.
Chapter 23.
This chapter was a description of Green Lake 110 years ago.
 It was a real lake where picnics were held on 4th July.
 Kate Barlow always won the prize for her spiced peaches, described as “food for
the angels”.
 She was the town’s schoolteacher.
 Trout Walker, a loud stupid man whose feet smelled like fish, loved her.
 Trout owned a motor- boat and wanted her to go for a ride but she refused.
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Chapter 24
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The next morning Mr. Sir’s face was purple and swollen.
Stanley did not say anything to anyone about what had happened.
When the water truck came Mr. Sir did not fill Stanley’s bottle, but poured the
water onto the ground next to him.
Chapter 25.
More history about Green Lake.
 When people were sick they either saw Dr Hawthorne or Sam the ‘Onion Man’.
 Sam told them that onions would cure all illnesses. He made tonics and lotions
out of onions.
 His donkey’s name was Mary Lou.
 Kate Barlow would ask him to fix things at the school that needed to be repaired.
 She paid him with Spiced Peaches.
 She read poetry to him and was surprised because he knew the poems and could
finish them.
 They fell in love.
 They were seen kissing in the rain one day, and the town’s people objected.
 Sam was a Negro.
Chapter 26.
Still the history of the town.
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Trout Walker led the people to the school and called Kate a “Devil Woman” for
having kissed Sam in public.
Sam was to be hung.
She went to the Sheriff, who was drunk, and no help at all.
Sam and Kate tried to cross the lake in Sam’s boat, the “Mary Lou”.
Trout Walker caught them, as his boat was faster.
Sam and Trout drowned but Kate was rescued.
Kate killed the sheriff and kissed him, which is how she became known as
Kissing Kate Barlow the bandit.
Chapter 27.
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Stanley continued digging.
Zero helped him with his holes. The other boys did not like Zero helping Stanley.
Mr. Sir still would not fill Stanley’s bottle.
One day he filled it then took it to the cabin of the truck, Stanley would not drink
from it.
Stanley taught Zero the alphabet and how to write his name.
Zero said his real name was Hector Zeroni.
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Chapter 28.
Back to the past.
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After 20 years of being the Kissing Bandit, Kate Barlow returned to Green Lake.
Most of the lake had tried up. She lived in a cabin there.
Trout Walker and his wife, Linda, found her and tried to rob her of the riches she
had stolen through the years.
They knew she had buried the riches and tortured her but she would not say where
they were.
A poisonous lizard bit Kate and she died laughing.
Part 2 The Last Hole
Chapter 29.
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It was hot and humid; a storm was on the way.
Stanley looked at the sky and the mountains.
One rock looked like a fist with a thumb sticking up. The “Thumb of God”?
Stanley thought of the story of his great –great-grandfather survival on the
“Thumb of God.”
Chapter 30.
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It was Zigzag’s birthday, 8th July; Mr. Sir gave him an extra carton of orange
juice.
Stanley worked out that he had dug 44 holes if the date was correct.
The boys were teasing Stanley about Zero helping to dig his holes.
A fight started.
Zigzag jumped Stanley but Stanley didn’t fight back.
Zero came to Stanley’s aid.
Mr. Pendanski had fired his gun and others came running.
The boys told the adults that Zero had helped Stanley to dig his holes and that
Stanley had been teaching Zero to read and write. The adults said it was a waste
of time as Zero was too stupid.
Zero hit Mr. Pendanski with the shovel and walked away.
The adults guarded the camp in case Zero returned.
The warden repainted her fingernails.
She still wanted 7 holes dug from 6 boys.
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Chapter 31
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Stanley dug his hole and Zero’s. He was angry with himself.
He wanted to go to look for Zero but didn’t. He tried to think of a plan
Zero didn’t come back.
The warden and the others asked if anyone would miss Zero.
As he was a ward of the state (no relatives) they decided to destroy all his records.
Chapter 32.
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Two days later a new boy was assigned in Zero’s place.
They nicknamed him Twitch because he fidgeted a lot.
Stanley was worried about Zero.
When the water truck arrived Stanley stole it and drove it into a hole.
He ran away. His water bottle was empty.
Chapter 33.
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Stanley walked in the direction of the big thumb.
He was surprised how far out the holes went.
He saw yellow spotted lizards in the holes.
He found a sack with one sunflower seed left in it.
Chapter 34.
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He saw the fist ahead of him and was encouraged by it.
Saw something in the distance in a different direction and decided to see what it
was.
It was an old upturned boat with the words Mary Lou on the side.
A tunnel went down on the side of the boat. Stanley called and a voice answered.
Then an arm with an orange sleeve came out.
He had found Zero.
Chapter 35.
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Zero was not well.
He had been living on sploosh-jars of food found in the tunnel under the boat-they
tasted like peaches.
Zero would not go back to camp and said that he would not dig any more holes.
Stanley showed Zero the “Thumb”.
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Chapter 36.
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They packed some unbroken jars in a sack and headed for the Thumb.
Zero used the shovel to help him walk.
Zero was often sick with severe stomach pains.
While they walked Zero asked Stanley to give him some words.
Stanley thought of death and his parents.
The came to white stone cliffs at the edge of the dry lake.
They helped each other up the cliffs.
Zero’s hands were bleeding from holding the shovel to help Stanley up.
Chapter 37.
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Stanley became worried on the climb up the mountain that there would not be
anything there to help them when they reached the top.
They were excited when they found bugs and weeds.
Almost at the top Zero collapsed.
Chapter 38.
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Stanley carried Zero the rest of the way.
At the top he slipped and fell in a muddy place.
He dug in the mud and drank.
He scooped water for Zero.
He found an onion and shared it with Zero.
Chapter 39.
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Stanley woke to find they were in a meadow.
Zero groaned and it was difficult for Stanley to talk.
Stanley planned to go back down the mountain to retrieve the shovel they had
dropped so he could make the water hole larger.
Zero wanted to tell him something.
Zero admitted that he had stolen Clyde Livingston’s sneakers.
Chapter 40.
 Stanley discovered that the meadow was full of wild onions.
 The story returned to the past and the onion man.
 Stanley and Zero slept alot, ate onions and grew stronger.
 Stanley retrieved the shovel and was surprised at how far he had carried Zero.
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Chapter 41.
 Zero’s condition continued to improve.
 Stanley enlarged the water hole.
 Zero talked about his life. He was homeless, no parents and living on the streets.
 He stole the sneakers because he needed them
 He couldn’t read the sign.
 He threw the sneakers away and was arrested the next day stealing a new pair.
Chapter 42.
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The boys survived on the water, onions and by following the shade around the
Thumb.
Zero calculated that they had eaten 280 onions in the week they had been there.
Stanley felt happy for the first time in a long time. Could not remember the last
time he had felt happy.
Stanley thought of their lives and punishments and possibly living like a fugitives
and looking for buried treasure.
Stanley was pleased Zero had not kept the sneakers.
Stanley woke Zero and asked him if he would like to dig one more hole.
Chapter 43.
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Zero remembered having a home and a mother.
They planned to take a sack of onions and some water with them and go back,
find the treasure and some food and get away.
Stanley thought of his parents and was worried and scared.
On the way down neither wanted to be the first to drink.
They arrived back at the boat about noon.
Zero remembered his mother leaving him and his stuffed giraffe and not coming
back.
Zero had waited for his mother to return for a month. He had lived in the tunnel of
the playground. He had seen people having a picnic but the mothers would not
allow their children to play with him.
Zero corrected Stanley’s direction on the way back from the boat to camp.
They hid in a hole nearer camp until it was dark.
Chapter 44.
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Stanley found it hard to sleep. He listened to the noises from the camp.
Stanley started to dig while Zero went for water.
Zero came back with cereal and water.
Stanley decided to dig wider rather than deeper as Kate Barlow wouldn’t have
dug deeper.
Finally he struck something hard on the sidewall. A metal suitcase
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As Stanley pulled it out of the hole the warden thanked him.
Chapter 45.
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A flashlight bean lit up their faces.
Mr. Sir, Mr. Pendanski and the warden were there.
A lizard was on the suitcase and then they saw more lizards in the hole and
everywhere.
They waited for the lizards to bite the boys and kill them.
The adults talked about having a body to give the ‘woman’.
The warden talked about having to dig holes to look for the treasure when she was
a child.
Chapter 46.
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The lizards kept crawling but did not attack the boys.
One jumped at Mr. Pendanski and Mr. Sir shot it.
They talked about shooting the boys.
The warden said not to that their story for the Attorney General should be simple.
Stanley would die from a lizard bite and Zero could be buried in the holes.
A lady, Stanley’s lawyer, had been to the camp to collect Stanley as he had been
proven innocent
The others boys were waking up.
The warden said they didn’t have to dig today.
Zero gave a thumbs up and Stanley carefully leant against the hole’s wall.
Chapter 47.
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The warden wanted Mr. Sir to try to get the suitcase but he refused.
A tarantula crawled across the dirt.
As the sun rose the lizards crawled into the shade.
Zero said “Satan” then “Sa-tan-lee”. He asked if Stanley’s first name was the
same as his last but backwards.
Two strangers arrived. Stanley’s lawyer Ms. Morengo and the Attorney General.
The warden said that the boys had stolen the suitcase from her cabin.
She said that Stanley had been in the hospital for the past few days delirious.
Stanley slowly got out of the hole and the lizards went back in the shade.
Stanley pulled Zero out.
The warden told the bays not to cause her any trouble.
The warden tried to get the suitcase but Zero would not let her because it had
Stanley’s name on it.
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Chapter 48.
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They walked back to camp.
The Attorney General told Mr. Pendanski to get the boys food and drink.
The warden said the boys had her things in the suitcase and wanted Stanley to
open it.
Ms Morengo said that he was not to open the suitcase.
She started to leave with Stanley and the suitcase but Stanley would not go
without Zero.
Zero’s files could not be found.
The others came out to see Stanley and Zero and Squid asked Stanley to phone his
mum to say that he was sorry.
When the Attorney General could not locate Zero’s file he was allowed to leave
with Stanley.
Chapter 49.
Back to the past.
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There never used to be lizards in the area but there were red-eyed monsters.
The men who hunted rattlesnakes would get onion juice from Sam to keep the
monsters away.
Stanley and Zero left the camp in the lawyer’s BMW.
She explained how she had proven Stanley’s innocence.
She told them Stanley’s dad had invented something to prevent foot odour and it
smelled like peaches.
Chapter 50 (EPILOGUE)
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Stanley’s mother said that there was no curse, but it was strange that Stanley’s
dad had invented the cure for foot odour on the day after Stanley had carried Zero
(Madame Zeroni’s great-great-grandson) up the mountain. (remember chapter7)
Camp Green Lake was closed, and the warden (Ms Walker) sold the land to
become a Girl Scout Camp.
Stanley’s self confidence was better, the suitcase contained jewels that were of
little value and some old papers than were worth a lot.
Stanley bought his family a new house and hired a private investigator to find
Zero’s mother.
A year and a half later they watched a commercial by Clyde ‘Sweet Feet’
Livingston about Sploosh, the product his dad had invented.
Zero’s mum sang a song to him she knew from her childhood