Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Greenlake (Holes Book 3)

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You can't let anybody else tell you what your choices are. Sometimes they won't give you the right choice."

Squid (Alan): Squid is a member of Group D at Camp Green Lake. He is often the one for taunting Stanley for sending and receiving letters to his mother. Just like X-Ray, Squid is very tough but very subservient to X-Ray's rules and directions. However, he does have a sensitive side to him, as Stanley wakes to hear him crying one night, and Alan asks Stanley to write to his (Alan's) mother when Stanley leaves Camp Green Lake. Mr. Sir told him he should wear one set to work in and one set for relaxation. Laundry was done every three days. On that day his work clothes would be washed. Then the other set would become his work clothes, and he would get clean clothes to wear while resting. This book is a true diamond in the rough, and I'm genuinely sorry that more people won't end up reading it. He didn’ t have any friends at home. He was overweight and the kids at his middle school often teased him about his size. Even his teachers sometimes made cruel comments without realizing it. On his last day of school, his math teacher, Mrs. Bell, taught ratios. As an example, she chose the heaviest kid in the class and the lightest kid in the class, and had them weigh themselves. Stanley weighed three times as much as the other boy. Mrs. Bell wrote the ratio on the board, 3:1, unaware of how much embarrassment she had caused both of them.

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A True Story in My Universe: A book called Holes about Stanley's time at Camp Green lake has been published in-universe. The ONLY reason I give this book four stars instead of five was because it was that much of a disappointment (a HUGE disappointment, in other words) that it was so short. I really hate Louis Sachar right now for not making this a little bit longer (especially considering I paid a totally unfair 41 dirhems for it, but that's just the fault of the cheapskates who own the bookshop). You know it's funny, you'll hate a really good author alot more than you'll hate a totally lousy author because in the case of the former you have expectations. And right now I am so angry I need a moment to compose myself before I continue this review;

Every time an experiment failed, Stanley could hear him cursing his dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-grandfather. Camp Green Lake is located on a dried-up lake in the US state of Texas. [4] The name is a false description, as the area is a parched, barren desert. The only weather is the scorching sun. No rain has fallen since the day Sam was murdered. The only plants mentioned are two oak trees in front of the Warden's cabin; the book notes that "the Warden owns the shade." The abandoned town of Green Lake is located by the side of the lakebed. Camp Green Lake is a correctional boot camp, where "campers" spend most of their time digging holes. The majority of the book alternates between the present day story of Stanley Yelnats, the story of Elya Yelnats in Latvia (ca. mid-19th century) and the story of Katherine Barlow in the town of Green Lake in the 1880s. Later chapters focus less on the past stories and more on the present. This thin survival guide may be a bit incomprehensible to those who have not read "Holes". Yet, it is in itself a great summary of Four Life Lessons that Stanley has learnt from his stay at Camp Green Lake: Never has the wit, timing, creativity and sensitive styling of Louis Sachar been better than in this miniature novel disguised as a survival guide. Louis Sachar melds so successfully into the personage of Stanley Yelnats as to make the two one person, and we the reader are the recipient of the ensuing literature treat. He looked at the guard who sat slumped in his seat and wondered of he had fallen asleep. The guard was wearing sunglasses, so Stanley couldn’t see his eyes.

But you don’t want to be bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard. That’s the worst thing that can happen to you. You will die a slow and painful death. Stanley Yelnats was the only passenger on the bus, not counting the driver or the guard. The guard sat next to the driver with his seat turned around facing Stanley. A rifle lay across his lap. Labor is seen throughout the novel as the children are forced to dig holes while at Camp Green Lake. This theme is unusual in children's literature as many authors portray children as carefree and without responsibility. [9] If they do engage in work, it is synonymous with play. Critic Maria Nikolajeva contends that Holes is set apart through the not just manual, but forced labor Stanley and the other campers do daily. [9] This is first referenced at the beginning of the book when the purpose of the camp is stated: "If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy". [10] Reception [ edit ]

The apartment smelled the way it did because Stanley’s father was trying to invent a way to recycle old sneakers. “The first person who finds a use for old sneakers,” he said, “will be a very rich man.”E-Z himself got into Camp Green Lake for beating up a man and his dog because the dog pooped in front of his skateboard. Stanley thought about the long, miserable bus ride and felt a little sorry for the guard and the bus driver.