Classics Corner: Holes by Louis Sachar; Three Stories Blend To Make One Superb YA Classic

Classics Corner: Holes by Louis Sachar; Three Stories Blend To Make One Superb YA Classic




By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews


Spoilers: I always said that Louis Sachar's Newbery Medal Winning novel, Holes is deep for a YA novel. Heck, it is deeper than most adult novels. Teachers wisely have used this book to teach their students about paying attention to detail and multiple narratives.

Holes doesn't tell one interesting story. Instead, Sachar tells three and wraps them all in one ambitious, cleverly written superb classic.

Story #1 is that of Stanley Yelnats IV and his adventures at Camp Green Lake. Stanley's family has been under a curse for five generations. This curse often puts Stanley in the wrong place at the wrong time such as when he is caught with a baseball player's pair of athletic shoes that was donated to a children's home. Stanley is arrested and sent to an all-boys detention camp, Camp Green Lake.
The camp is in the middle of the desert and the nasty Warden and her cohorts demand that the boys dig one hole a day. They claim that they are trying to “build character” but it doesn't take long for Stanley to realize they are looking for something but what?

Story #2 is about Stanley's “no good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great grandfather,” Elya Yelnats and the origin of the Yelnats family curse. Elya was a young Latvian man who fell in love with a girl. To win her over, Elya's friend, Madame Zeroni suggests that he should take a pig up the mountain and tend to it so it will grow stronger. When he is done with that, he should then take Madame Zeroni up the mountain so she can grow stronger. However, if he fails, he and his family will be cursed always and for eternity.
Unfortunately, Elya rejects the flaky girl when she can't decide between her two suitors.
So, Elya flees to America forgetting about Madame Zeroni and his promise to carry her up the mountain. He realizes the consequences when his family becomes hit with bad luck, particularly his son, Stanley Yelnats I who has a chest of valuables stolen during a stagecoach robbery.

Story # 3, my favorite, is of Western outlaw, Kissin’ Kate Barlow. Kate is a schoolteacher in the once-thriving town of Green Lake. She becomes romantically involved with Sam, an African-American onion farmer. When they are caught kissing, Kate's schoolhouse is burned down and Sam is lynched and shot to death.
Out of revenge, Kate goes after the members of the lynch mob by shooting them then leaving a kiss as her trademark. Kate begins a 20 year career of robbing trains, banks stagecoaches (including a stage that had as a passenger, one Stanley Yelnats I), and killing people who get in her way. Rumors are eventually spread that she buried the loot that she stole out in the desert and anyone who searches for it will have to go digging. And what a coincidence, that in modern times there is a delinquent camp for boys that can do just that.

As you can tell, Holes is not an easy story to tell and that's what makes it a great book. In my previous entry for A Wrinkle in Time, I praised YA books that recognize their Reader's intelligence. They can tell an engaging and inventive story that draws in young Readers while using bigger concepts and effective storytelling that doesn't talk down to them. Holes has all of that and more.

Off-handed conversations become important later on. Some things happen to Stanley in the present which are answered in one of the flashbacks stories. Characters are introduced in the present whose relatives had great significance in the past.
Sachar chose not to write his book in a chronological linear manner. Instead, he combined the three stories using excerpts from each into the chapters sorting them by plot and thematic element. The questions asked by characters in the present are answered by characters in the past and struggles caused by character's actions in the past are resolved by character's actions in the present. Confused yet?

Holes is not just a book with a deep narration. It also has a lot of humor, depth, and a lot of warmth. Much of the humor lies in Sachar’s writing. He first describes Camp Green Lake as “There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.”
He describes Kate Barlow as a beautiful school teacher loved by her students and many of the men in town. The men came to her adult education classes hoping to get a date with her, but Sachar tells us “all they got was the education.”

The humor isn't just limited to the narration. Names add to the funny elements to the story. Stanley Yelnats’ first and last names are the same forward and backwards (His great-great grandmother thought that was clever and it stuck with subsequent generations.)
All of the campers and staff have nicknames. The campers call each other names like Zig Zag, X Ray, Armpit, Magnet, Squint, Twitch, and Zero after some physical characteristic or personality trait. To receive a nickname means that you are accepted as one of the gang, as Stanley (later Caveman) discovers.
The staff are called The Warden (her title to show she's in charge), Mr. Sir (The Warden’s sadistic second in command) and Dr. Pendanski AKA Mom (the boy's counselor who affects a kind demeanor but is really condescending and patronizing to the boys, particularly Zero).

Besides the clever narration and word play, Holes discusses real world issues like homelessness, child abandonment, juvenile delinquency, and most notably racism. Kate and Sam are an interracial couple in the late 1800’s. Their encounters as Sam fixes Kate’s school roof, window, door, and eventually her broken heart are beautiful making them among the best literary romantic couples of all time.

Sachar, however, doesn't shy away from the ramifications from a racist town that may not have minded Sam when he sold them onions but raises Holy Hell when he and a white school teacher fall in love. After Sam is killed, Kate transforms from a sweet schoolteacher to an angry outlaw and Green Lake changes from a lush green garden spot to an arid decayed desert. These changes reveal the hateful nature that was buried under the residents of Green Lake bringing that hatred out in the open.

Stanley's family also has much to answer for. While Elya's crime of forgetting about Madame Zeroni wasn't as great as Sam’s murder, he reveals his egocentricism and ungratefulness by not even thinking of her until it is too late. Elya's actions still led to many generations of bad luck, poverty, and tragedy for his family. The only way the curse can be resolved is through Stanley.

Stanley unwittingly becomes the catalyst for great change during his time in Camp Green Lake most importantly in his friendship with Zero.
Zero is a small camper who doesn't say much and is frequently bullied. Stanley and Zero strike up a friendship when Stanley teaches Zero to read and Zero helps his new friend dig his holes. They defend each other after they are bullied.
When Zero runs away from camp, Stanley orchestrates a daring escape attempt to find him earning them the support of the formerly apathetic campers. When Stanley and Zero are reunited, things happen that tie all three stories together and allows Elya's curse to be broken and Kate to finally receive some peace. What was broken by hatred and selfishness is made whole because of friendship and self-sacrifice.

Holes is one of the most ambitious YA novels with its multiple perspectives, time hopping narrative, and combination of humor, social issues, and warmth. Louis Sachar won the Newbery Medal for his efforts and rightfully deserved it.