“There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.”

From Louis Sachar’s Holes.

We meet our main character, Stanley Yelnats, when he is sentenced to a juvenile work camp called Camp Green Lake. Stanley is a boy who seems to be cursed with very, very bad luck. At the camp, the boys are required to dig one hole a day. Stanley befriends a fellow “camper” nicknamed Zero, and together they begin to realize that the leaders of the camp are looking for something more than improved character. The two run away from the camp in an attempt to solve the mystery and break the Yelnats curse. As the boys learn the truth about Camp Green Lake and the curse that has plagued Stanley’s family for generations, we also get a fantastical background story on how this not-so-green camp came to operate.

While the story is fictitious, the characters portrayed are believable and realistic. Stanley doesn’t want to be at Green Lake, where water and shade are a precious commodity, but he’s stuck there with only his shovel and his humor to keep him alive. The story is mysterious and the various story lines are blended together very well. The reader quickly comes to ask the same question that Stanley (and all the other campers) soon finds himself asking: will he ever make it out of Camp Green Lake? A broken promise, the desire to do the right thing, revenge for wrongs committed, unlikely friendships, and some disguised luck all blend together fantastically to create a story that is captivating and engaging for all.