REVIEW: Holes

Holes
Author: Louis Sachar

I have been wanting to read this book for years, but I never seemed to get around to it! Well, this year I made a pact with myself to read more of the stories I want to read, so this book made it to the top of my TBR list finally!

OMG! I loved this story! I wish I hadn't waited so long!

Stanley Yelnats believes he lives under a curse that finally ran him afoul with the law. He's innocent of the petty crime he is convicted of, but there is no sense arguing with the curse. So, he gets sentenced to Camp Green Lake. The camp is a detention center for boys. They spend all day digging holes in the desert. Stanley is told the work is to build character, but as the story unfolds it seems there is more going on at Camp Green Lake.

Stanley learns so many lessons about friendship and self esteem during his stay at Camp Green Lake. I laughed every time he ranted about his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather who brought the curse down on his head that makes his life miserable. :) Great story! Great characters! Great life lessons!

Holes was made into a movie by Disney in 2003. I can finally watch the movie without breaking my rule about reading the book first! Only took me almost 16 years! Better late than never! I'm hoping Disney stuck close to the book. The story is perfect as it is. I hope the film doesn't disappoint me. Luckily, it's streaming this month on a television channel in our package....I'm watching it tonight!

Even at 50 years old, I love reading children's books. This story was just the feel-good adventure story I needed on a rainy, winter Saturday afternoon. I loved it!

I listened to the audio book version of this story (Penguin Random House Audio). Narrated by Kerry Beyer, the audio is just under 4.5 hours long. Beyer has a nice voice and gave a great performance! I have partial hearing loss but was easily able to hear and understand the entire audio book.