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Holes by Louis Sachar

I absolutely love novels that come full circle, and Holes by Louis Sachar is one of those novels. The multiple plot lines can be confusing at first, and students may have questions about the book Holes as they read, but it all comes together in the end. This excites readers and gives them a sense of accomplishment as they realize how each plot is intertwined. Our free Holes novel study is sure to engage your students. Check out Storyboard That’s Holes book activities and our Holes lesson plans below!

Explore our fun Holes book activities now! These lesson plans are a dynamic and engaging alternative to other traditional book report ideas. Students will love creating storyboards such as a character chart, plot diagram, and more! Storyboarding allows students to demonstrate their understanding of plot, characters and literary elements with visuals and pictures as well as words. This enables students of all abilities to successfully dive deep into a novel study and enjoy the process! Our Holes lesson plans will get your students pumped about reading and analyzing this amazing story.

This is a classic novel for middle school readers that they won't soon forget, especially with Storyboard That’s Holes by Louis Sachar activities!

Student Activities for Holes

Holes by Louis Sachar Questions

• What makes a good friend?
• What is fate, and do you believe in it?
• How do your own actions shape your life?
• What is fairness? How does each plot line develop this theme?
• What is the symbolization of holes in the story?

Short Summary of the Book, Holes by Louis Sachar

Stanley Yelnats believes his family has been cursed. A story passed from generation to generation says that Elya, his great-great grandfather failed to fulfill a promise to an old Romani woman, who cursed him and his family. After being mistakenly convicted for stealing a pair of shoes, Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake. The name is deceptive, the camp is a detention center for boys in the middle of the Texan desert.

Stanley is thrown into tent D with a diverse mix of other juvenile delinquents, including a quiet boy named Zero. The “campers” are made to dig holes, under the watchful eye of Mr. Sir, the counselor. Mr. Sir claims it is to build character, but Stanley uncovers that the Warden is using the boys to help her search for something.

In a secondary plot, readers learn that Green Lake used to be a well-to-do area; rich and abundant, on the edge of a large lake. Kate, the school teacher, falls in love with Sam, a local medicinal salesman. When the two are caught kissing, the town is in an uproar because Sam is Black. Charles Walker, a member of the town’s richest family, wanted to court Kate. He leads the town in hunting down Sam, who is killed. Kate becomes known as the ruthless outlaw, “Kissing Kate Barlow”. As a bandit, she coincidentally robbed a man named Stanley Yelnats, the young protagonist’s great grandfather.

This first Stanley Yelnats also believed this is because of the Yelnats family curse. In Latvia, his father Elya fell in love, and wished to marry a young woman named Myra. Seeking the advice of Madame Zeroni, he was given a pig and told to carry it to the top of a mountain, allowing it to drink from the river. Once the pig grew, he could take it to Myra as a dowry. To repay Madame Zeroni, he was to carry her up the mountain to make her strong as well. When he goes to Myra, he is disgusted by her personality. Elya leaves for America, forgetting his end of the bargain.

These three stories collide when Zero and Stanley run away from the camp. After being in the desert for some time, they climb a mountain in search of water. Zero becomes weak and Stanley must carry him. When they reach the top they drink the water and Stanley sings a song taught to him by his family. Zero’s real name is Hector Zeroni, and he’s a descendant of Madame Zeroni. When Stanley carries him up the mountain and sings to him, the promise is fulfilled and the curse lifted. The boys then figure out that the Warden is a descendant of the Walker family and is in search of Kissing Kate’s buried Treasure, hence the endless digging of holes. They go back to a hole where Stanley found a lipstick container and find a box of treasure. The authorities are called in, the camp is shut down, and the boys live happily thereafter.

About the Author

Louis Sachar is a young-adult author who was born in 1954 in East Meadow, New York. Sachar graduated from University of California, Berkeley, and began writing shortly thereafter. He used his personal experiences working with children in an elementary school as inspiration for Sideways Stories from Wayside School , but added lots of comedy and silly elements to make the stories more engaging.

Around the time that this book was accepted for publication, Sachar began studying law at University of California, Hastings College of Law. Upon graduation, he did some part time law work while he wrote more children’s books. Obviously Sachar never continued with his career as a lawyer, as his true calling was a writer!

Holes is arguably the most popular of Louis Sachar’s books, earning him several awards including the Newbery Medal for the year’s “most distinguished contribution to American literature for children”. Sachar and his wife Carla have one daughter named Sherre, who is now a zookeeper. They live in Austin, Texas.

More Books By Louis Sachar

Louis Sachar has written many wonderful books for children. Here are just a few more! Use Storyboard That’s general novel study activities with any of these books today!

• The Marvin Redpost Series: Children will delight in these books about a redhead third grader named Marvin, who has many adventures investigating the paranormal!
• The Cardturner : A story for older students about a teenager named Alton who searches for the meaning of life while he drives his elderly uncle Lester to his bridge club several times a week.
• Small Steps : This New York Times bestseller is about a boy named Armpit (yes, Armpit!), who returns home to Texas after spending time in jail. As he takes small steps towards rebuilding his life, grand adventures take place, changing him forever!
• There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom : This popular story is about a boy named Bradley Chalkers, who is known as a troublemaker with behavior problems. When the school counselor sees that there’s more to Bradley than meets the eye, he begins to believe in himself and changes for the better.
• Fuzzy Mud : Sachar’s latest masterpiece is about Tamaya and Marshall, two kids who take the long way home from school to avoid a bully. When the fifth and seventh graders enter the off-limit path through the woods, adventure and trouble follows.

Discussion Questions to Use in Pairs or Groups

These questions may be used during reading, or upon completion of the novel. While it is best to get students discussing what they’ve read, these questions can also be answered individually in a reader’s notebook. It is always such a joy to hear the different opinions that students have, even though they are reading the same novel!

• Discuss the title of the book. What type of holes is Louis Sachar referring to? Just physical holes in the ground? Be sure to use examples from the text to explain your answer.
• The name “Camp Green Lake'' implies that it is a fun place for kids, just like any other summer camp. However, it is not at all what it seems. Discuss the setting of Camp Green Lake. Why is it such an important part of the story?
• The names of the characters in this book are often nicknames and seem to have some kind of meaning. Discuss these names with your group. Do you think they fit the personalities of the characters? Why do you think the author chose to do this? If you had to choose your own nickname, what would it be?
• What is karma? What happens to the Warden at the end of the book? Is this an example of karma? Be sure to look up the word karma and some examples of it, if you are unsure what this means.
• What are the things that happened to Stanley’s family over time? Do you think that Stanley’s family was really cursed with bad luck? Discuss with your group and be sure to provide textual evidence.
• Discuss the various themes of Holes with your group or partner. What do you think is the most important theme? What are the messages that the author is trying to get across?
• Stanley and Zero have an interesting friendship. They help each other and form an unlikely bond. What about each of them makes them a good friend? What are some of the relationships between the other characters like?
• The book centers around Stanley’s family history. Do you know much about your family history? What makes your family unique? Share what you know with your group.
• Because Kate and Sam were different races, the town was outraged and Sam was killed. How has the country changed since the time when this kind of racism was prevalent? How has it stayed the same?
• What are some freedoms that we have today that we may take for granted? What are some instances of freedoms taken away in Holes ? Be sure to provide examples from the text.

Ideas for Post-Reading Activities

Storyboard That is an excellent tool for students to create fun and engaging projects as a culminating activity after finishing a novel. In addition to our premade activities, here are some ideas that teachers can customize and assign to students to spark creativity in individual students, pairs, or small groups for a final project. Several of these ideas include Storyboard That templates that can be printed out or copied into your teacher dashboard and assigned digitally. All final projects can be printed out, presented as a slide show, or, for an extra challenge, as an animated GIF!

• For Groups: Choose a scene from the story and write a short play to reenact to the class. Use the traditional storyboard layout to plan out your scenes. You can add text to your storyboards, or simply use the cells to visualize each scene of your play.
• Using the timeline layout, retell the story in chronological order. Our timeline layout gives you the options to include year, month, day, and even hour! You may also choose to omit these altogether.
• Choose a setting from the story and create a map of the setting using the small poster or worksheet layout. Use free form or other text boxes to include a key or label the different parts of the map.
• Using one of Storyboard That’s board game templates , create a game based on the book for your classmates to play!
• For Groups: Divide the chapters of the book amongst your group members. Each member of the group creates a storyboard for their assigned chapter. This can be done as a collaborative project, or separately for longer novels.
• Using the worksheet layout and Storyboard That’s worksheet assets, create a test or a quiz for other students in the class. You can create all kinds of questions such as multiple choice, short answer, and even matching! When you are done, be sure to make an answer key.
• Using one of Storyboard That’s biography poster templates, create a poster about the character of your choice. Be sure to include important biographical features such as: place and date of birth, family life, accomplishments, etc.
• Choose a chapter from the novel and create a storyboard that shows that chapter from another character’s point of view. For an extra challenge, use the T-chart layout to compare the original point of view with another character’s point of view!
• Create a book jacket of the novel using one of Storyboard That’s book jacket templates. Use Storyboard That art to create the cover, and write a summary of the story on the back, just like real books have!
• Using one of Storyboard That’s social media templates as a starting point, create a social media page for one or more of the characters in the novel. Be sure to think how the character thinks while creating this page.
• Create a scrapbook page made by one of the characters in the novel. Storyboard That has lots of premade templates that you can use as is, or change to fit your character’s personality! Check out our scrapbook templates today!

Holes Book Report Ideas and Other Fun Activities for the Book Holes

• Using storyboards, depict the water cycle and explain why water is important.
• Show yellow spotted lizards in their natural habitat and answer questions about them. What do they eat? Where do they live? What are their predators? What other information could you add?
• Make up your own family curse and depict it using the storyboard layout of your choice.
• Write your own Holes book summary.
• Write your own version of the Holes book using the Storyboard That book maker!
• Make a Holes storyboard that depicts your favorite scene, or an alternate ending!
• Think of your own Holes by Louis Sachar activities or create your own Holes book pictures!
• Complete Holes activities made by a classmate!

Buy Holes on Amazon

How to Create a Plot Diagram for "Holes" by Louis Sachar

Identify the key elements of the plot.

Identify the key elements of the plot in "Holes" by Louis Sachar, including the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Pay attention to significant events, conflicts, and character development throughout the story.

Choose a Plot Diagram Template

Choose a plot diagram template from Storyboard That's collection of layout options. Select a template that best fits your preferences and the level of detail you want to include in your plot diagram.

Fill in the Exposition

In the first section of the plot diagram, fill in the exposition of the story. Introduce the main characters, setting, and the initial conflict or problem they face. Provide a brief summary of the beginning of the book.

Add the Rising Action

In the next section, add the rising action of the story. Include the series of events and obstacles that the characters encounter as they work towards resolving the conflict. Show how tension and suspense build throughout the story.

Highlight the Climax

Identify the climax, which is the turning point or most intense moment of the story. It is the peak of the conflict and often involves a major decision or confrontation. Place this event in the appropriate section of the plot diagram.

Show the Falling Action and Resolution

Illustrate the falling action, which reveals the aftermath of the climax and ties up loose ends. Depict how the conflict is resolved and the story's resolution. Show the final outcome for the main characters and any important revelations or lessons learned.

Frequently Asked Questions about Holes

What is holes, about.

Holes is story about a boy named Stanley who is sent to Camp Green Lake, a place for delinquent boys, after he was accused of a theft that he didn’t commit. While there, Stanley uncovers the history of the camp, as well as the mystery of the “curse” that he believes has plagued his family for many years.

Why is the book called Holes ?

It is obvious that one reason why the book is called Holes is because Stanley and the other boys are forced to dig holes all day. However, the holes symbolize a lot of what Stanley feels at times such as hopelessness, hardship, and adversity.

Who are the main characters in the book Holes ?

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Book Report On Holes

Holes by Louis Sachar is a novel about a boy named Stanley Yelnats who is sent to a camp called Camp Green Lake for stealing sneakers. The novel follows Stanley’s time at the camp and the strange occurrences that take place there. Holes is an enjoyable read and is perfect for young adults.

Sachar does an excellent job of creating a suspenseful and mysterious atmosphere at Camp Green Lake. Holes is an award-winning novel and was made into a movie in 2003. If you’re looking for an enjoyable and well-written book, be sure to check out Holes. You won’t regret it.

Camp Green Lake is a camp located in the middle of the desert. It’s a very hot and dry place, and there’s not much to do there. The only thing that Camp Green Lake is known for is its lake, which is now nothing more than a dried-up hole in the ground. Stanley Yelnats is sent to Camp Green Lake after being caught stealing sneakers. He’s curious about why he was sent to the camp, and he wants to know what happened to the lake.

When Stanley arrives at Camp Green Lake, he meets Mr. Sir, who is in charge of the camp. Mr. Sir tells Stanley that the reason he’s at Camp Green Lake is because Camp Green Lake is a place where boys learn to become men. He also tells Stanley that the boys at the camp have to dig holes all day, and that if they don’t dig deep enough, they’ll get a whipping.

Stanley quickly learns that there’s more to Camp Green Lake than meets the eye. He soon realizes that the lake was drained because Mr. Sir and the other counselors at the camp are looking for something. Stanley doesn’t know what it is, but he’s determined to find out. As he starts digging holes, Stanley begins to piece together the puzzle of what happened at Camp Green Lake. Holes is an excellent book and is sure to keep you entertained from beginning to end.

The significance of friendship and the impact of fate and destiny are two primary themes in Holes. When Sachar composes, he does not intend to deliver a specific moral or lesson. Instead, he creates characters that his readers can relate to and puts them in events that are exciting to read about.

Holes is no different in this regard. The story has a number of memorable characters, including Stanley Yelnats IV, the protagonist and victim of a family curse, Zero, a fellow inmate at Camp Green Lake who becomes Stanley’s best friend, and Mr. Sir, the cruel warden of the camp.

One of the primary themes in Holes is that our choices determine our fate. Stanley is an example of this theme. He is an unlucky person because of the curse on his family, but he also makes some bad choices that only make his situation worse. For instance, he steals Clyde Livingston’s shoes and later runs away from camp instead of facing the consequences for his actions. These poor decisions result in him being sent to Camp Green Lake, where he endures a number of hardships.

Another theme in Holes is the importance of friendship. Stanley and Zero are the best example of this. They are very different people, but they become close friends because they both need someone to rely on. Zero has been abandoned by his family and Stanley has been unlucky all his life. They help each other through their tough times at Camp Green Lake and eventually escape together.

Holes is an entertaining and enjoyable book that deals with some important themes. It is one of Sachar’s most popular books and has been made into a movie. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend that you do so. You won’t be disappointed.

Holes, by Louis Sachar, is a fantastic read for those who enjoy exciting fiction. Stanley Yelnats is arrested by police officers on the charge of stealing a baseball player’s sneakers and is sentenced to juvenile detention.

He is sent to a camp called Camp Green Lake where he has to dig holes all day long. The other boys in the camp are also serving time for different crimes. Stanley quickly realizes that there is something strange going on at the camp and starts investigating what is really happening. Holes is a page-turner that you won’t be able to put down until you finish it.

Louis Sachar is a master storyteller and he does a great job of keeping the suspense level high throughout the entire book. Holes was made into a movie in 2003 and it was very successful. If you haven’t read this book yet, I highly recommend that you do because it’s one of my favorites. Holes is definitely one of the best books I’ve read in a while.

Holes is a great book that was written by Louis Sachar. It’s a perfect book for people who love suspenseful stories because it will keep you on the edge of your seat until you finish it. Stanley Yelnats is falsely accused of stealing someone’s shoes and is sent to juvenile detention center. He is later transferred to Camp Green Lake where he has to dig holes all day long. Stanley quickly realizes that there is something strange going on at the camp and starts investigating what is really happening. Holes is an exciting book with lots of suspense that you won’t be able to put down.

First and foremost, Holes is an adventure tale. … Given the narrative construction of this book, in which the reader must assemble the various narratives to figure out what the Warden truly wants and Camp Green Lake really is, it could also be classified as a mystery or detective story.

Secondly, Holes is also a story about love and family. … Stanley is ultimately saved by the love of his family and their determination to find him.

Lastly, Holes is an important commentary on the justice system in America. … The novel critiques the American legal system by highlighting its failures, particularly in regards to juveniles. It also offers a different perspective on how juvenile delinquents should be treated and rehabilitated. Sachar’s portrayal of Camp Green Lake is ultimately a hopeful one, suggesting that with the right kind of rehabilitation, juvenile delinquents can become upstanding members of society.

This message is an important one, given the increasing number of juveniles who are being incarcerated in America. Holes provides a much-needed corrective to the harsh and often ineffective justice system currently in place.

Holes is a 1998 novel written by Louis Sachar. It tells the story of Stanley Yelnats IV, a teenager who is sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp, after being wrongly convicted of stealing a pair of shoes. The novel follows Stanley’s experiences at the camp and his attempts to find out what really happened to his great-grandfather. Holes is an adventure story, a love story, and a commentary on the American justice system. It is an important and insightful book that should be read by everyone.

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Chronological, Sequential, and Consecutive Order

Ten Interesting Facts…Veterans Day

Teaching Ideas for Holes by Louis Sachar

• By Gay Miller in Book Units

October 27, 2014

• Middle School Novel Study

Permanent link to this article: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=816

• Pat on March 15, 2015 at 9:21 am

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• customessay-s.com on September 12, 2017 at 5:37 am

I am not a teacher, but I find these activities helpful. I’ll try them out with my little son! I’m sure he’ll enjoy making spiced peaches.

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Differentiated Teaching

Holes Novel Study Guide with Printable Activities

Getting ready to start a Holes novel study with your students? This no prep Holes Novel Study Unit is the perfect way to engage students with this great story by Louis Sachar without overwhelming them with endless lists of surface-level comprehension questions.

These activities are easy to differentiate for a whole group novel study, but they are also a great fit for literature circles or book clubs.

If you need a copy of the book, you can purchase Holes on Amazon here. (This link is an affiliate link. The book won't cost you any more, but I earn a small commission on your purchase, which I use to maintain this site.)

What's included in this Holes Novel Study Unit?

This novel study guide focuses on both comprehension and vocabulary. It includes five weeks worth of lessons and paper-saving printables including:

• Instructional guide with daily comprehension skill, objective, and key Tier 2 & text-based vocabulary
• Comprehension trifolds (provided in color and black & white)
• Reader's Notebook Comprehension Prompts (matching trifolds)
• Word of the Day Text-based Vocabulary flip books
• Trifold answer keys for easy grading

Comprehension skills addressed in this novel study

These trifolds and notebook prompts were carefully selected to align with the text and comprehension skills that commonly require repeated practice opportunities.

The skills addressed in this Holes novel study include:

• Identifying main idea
• Summarizing
• Analyzing characters, relationships, and change across time
• Making inferences
• Drawing conclusions
• Identifying key themes
• Visualizing using sensory or descriptive language
• Vocabulary analysis & context clues
• Cause and effect
• Problem and solution

Each day focuses on a single comprehension skill. This was done to allow you to dive deep into the skill and ensure your students truly understand and can apply their knowledge to the text.

The comprehension prompts were written to encourage deep thinking. Students must apply the skill to generate a written response and defend their answers with text evidence.

This literary analysis fosters a deep understanding of the plot of Holes , but it also builds comprehension strategies that are applicable to other texts.

How do students practice the comprehension skills?

The daily comprehension prompts are provided in two paper-saving formats. The benefits of each format are outlined below.

The trifold format was the original design for this Holes novel study. The foldable trifolds were designed to cover a week worth of comprehension using one piece of paper. Students are given a single question each day that focuses their reading on the daily comprehension skill.

The benefit of the trifold format is that it is extremely approachable to students. Each day only takes up a third of the page, and this keeps reluctant writers from shutting down.

This also makes it easy to collect and grade. Many students use the trifold as a bookmark, helping prevent missing papers.

Want to know more? Click here to learn more about the trifold novel study format.

The Reader's Notebook prompts are perfect for students who are advanced and need more space to provide in-depth analysis or offer an option for differentiation for those who struggle with handwriting.

Regardless of the format selected, the prompt is the same so you can easily have some students working on the trifolds while others use the notebook prompts.

What academic vocabulary is included with the Holes novel study?

Each day has at least one Tier 2 word associated with the assigned comprehension skill. This means there are over 50 academic vocabulary words included in the instructional guide.

These include general academic vocabulary and skill-specific vocabulary. A sample of the included terms is shown below:

General vocabulary:

Skill specific vocabulary:.

• figurative language

Why do you include academic vocabulary?

Tier 2 vocabulary, also known as academic language, is one of the biggest barriers to student success in school. The research on the impact of academic vocabulary is clear, and we must explicitly teach these words to our students.

To make it easy, I outline the key Tier 2 words that go with each skill. This makes it easy for you to incorporate these words into your novel study discussions and to explicitly teach students their meaning if you are working with struggling students or English Language Learners (ELLs).

Teaching text-based vocabulary in Holes

In addition to the Tier 2 vocabulary, each day also includes a text-based vocabulary word that can be found in the day's reading. Some of the words included in this novel study include:

• inexplicable

These words can be taught using the flipbook format. Designed with conserving copies in mind, this is also designed to use one piece of paper per week.

The Word of the Day Flip Book is designed for use in interactive reading journals. Students cut the flipbook out, cut apart the tabs, and glue it into their notebooks. They leave the tabs unglued so they can write under them.

Depending on your students, you can have them generate a definition of the day's word or generate a list of synonyms and antonyms. You can even have students draw a picture of the meaning.

How to purchase the Holes novel study

This Holes novel study unit can be purchased below or at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

There are currently nearly 200 novel studies available in my store.

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86 pages • 2 hours read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-12

Chapters 13-19

Chapters 20-24

Chapters 25-28

Chapters 29-35

Chapters 36-43

Chapters 44-50

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

Louis Sachar’s 1998 children’s novel, Holes , tells the story of a boy accused of stealing. A judge sentences him to 18 months in a camp where a tyrannical warden has the boys digging holes that appear random. Holes was awarded the 1998 National Book Award and the 1999 Newbery Medal, and was adapted into a film by Disney.

Plot Summary

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Stanley Yelnats IV is a 14-year-old boy whose family claims it is cursed due to his “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather” (8). This curse is responsible for him being wrongfully convicted for stealing a pair of tennis shoes once owned by a famous athlete. Although Stanley tells the truth about how the shoes fell out of the sky and hit him in the head, the judge doesn’t believe him and sends him to a detention facility called Camp Green Lake.

When Stanley arrives at Camp Green Lake, he learns that the boys at the detention center must dig a hole five feet wide and five feet deep every single day they are there. According to the Warden , who is in charge of the facility, this builds character. The boys are instructed to pay careful attention while digging; they will be rewarded for bringing the Warden anything interesting.

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From here, the story moves back to the 19th century, to the time of Stanley’s grandfather Elya Yelnats. Elya is desperately in love with Myra, but she has also attracted the attention of an older pig farmer, Igor Barkov. He has offered Myra’s father his heaviest pig in exchange for permission to marry Myra.

Elya thinks that Myra deserves better. He goes to his friend Madame Zeroni, who warns him that Myra is not very intelligent. However, Elya is in love and does not listen to Madame Zeroni. She agrees to help him since she sees that Elya loves her. Madame Zeroni gives him a tiny piglet and tells him that if he climbs the mountain with the piglet every day and lets the pig drink from the spring while singing to it, the pig will soon be bigger than Igor’s. Once this happens, he has to promise to carry Madame Zeroni to the top of the mountain so that she can drink from the spring. If he doesn’t take Madame Zeroni, then he and his family will be doomed.

Elya promises and takes the piglet every morning up the mountain. He almost wins Myra’s hand, except his and Igor’s pigs are the same size. Myra is given the choice, but she cannot choose. Instead, she directs them to guess the number she is thinking of, but Elya has had enough. In his frustration, he forgets his promise to Madame Zeroni and moves to America. He only realizes his mistake while ocean-bound on the ship. Madame Zeroni’s curse follows him, affecting his entire family. The song he sang to the pig becomes a family lullaby.

The story moves to the history of Kissin’ Kate Barlow. It is 110 years earlier and Kate Barlow, a local teacher, falls in love with a local Black onion seller, Sam. When she is seen kissing Sam, the town of Green Lake is in an uproar. Sam is arrested and a mob burns down the schoolhouse.

Kate and Sam try to cross the lake to escape, but Trout (a man who Kate rejected) intercepts them and sinks the boat. Trout shoots Sam and rescues Kate against her will. After Sam dies, no rain falls on the town again.

Kate becomes an outlaw who leaves a trademark lipstick kiss on those she robs. She robs Stanley’s great grandfather, but instead of killing him, she leaves him in the desert where he is eventually rescued. Stanley says he survived because of God’s thumb, but nobody knows what he meant. Stanley is taken to the hospital where he meets and falls in love with a nurse whom he marries.

Twenty years later, Kate goes back to Green Lake and stays in a little cabin, but Trout and his wife, who are broke and desperate for money, intercept her. They try to force her to tell them where she keeps her stolen loot, but she is bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard and dies taunting them.

Back at present-day Camp Green Lake, it is clear the Warden is looking for something while the boys dig holes. During one dig, Stanley finds a tube of lipstick that once belonged to Kate Barlow, but he gives it to X-Ray , the leader of Group D, who convinces Stanley that he needs it more.

The Warden is excited by the discovery. They sift through X-Ray’s hole mistakenly believing that this is where the lipstick was found. Meanwhile, Stanley becomes friends with Zero . Stanley agrees to teach Zero how to read and Zero offers to dig part of Stanley’s hole every day so that Stanley has energy to teach. One day, the boys start to fight because of Zero and Stanley’s arrangement. Zero protects Stanley and then refuses to dig anymore. He hits the counselor Mr. Pendanski with his shovel and runs away. The Warden decides to leave him to die in the desert. After a few days, Stanley decides to go after Zero. Stanley finds him and notices a mountain that looks like a thumb. He remembers that his great-grandfather said he was saved by God’s thumb, so they decide to climb the nearby mountain instead of go back to camp. Zero isn’t feeling well, so Stanley carries Zero, who isn’t feeling well, up most of the mountain. He gives him water that they find at the top, breaking the curse that Madame Zeroni put on Elya Yelnats. Stanley also finds a field of onions; he and Zero and eat them for days to recover. While on the mountain, Stanley begins to believe that the gold lipstick he found in his hole might be where Kissin’ Kate Barlow’s loot is buried, so they return to Stanley’s hole and find a suitcase. The Warden tries to take it from him, but deadly, yellow-spotted lizards appear, forcing him to back away.

The onions make Stanley and Zero invulnerable to the lizards and they stay in the hole overnight. In the morning, an attorney demands Stanley’s release. Stanley and Zero get up and the yellow-spotted lizards don’t bite them. The Warden tries to get the suitcase, but Zero tells her it belongs to Stanley. On the suitcase is the name STANLEY YELNATS. The attorney takes Stanley and Zero (whose records were erased when they thought he was dead) with her out of Green Lake and back to Stanley’s family. They open the suitcase and discover Kate’s loot. The family’s fortunes turn around and rain comes to the city once again.

The book ends with a glimpse into Stanley and Zero’s lives a year and a half later. Stanley’s dad’s invention takes off and he has a Super Bowl ad for their foot deodorizer. Zero reunites with his mother, who abandoned him when he was a young boy.

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Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Louis Sachar's Holes . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Holes: Introduction

Holes: plot summary, holes: detailed summary & analysis, holes: themes, holes: quotes, holes: characters, holes: symbols, holes: theme wheel, brief biography of louis sachar.

Historical Context of Holes

Other books related to holes.

• Full Title: Holes
• When Written: 1997-98
• Where Written: Texas, USA
• When Published: 1998
• Literary Period: Contemporary
• Genre: Children's/Young Adult Fiction; Adventure Novel
• Setting: Latvia, mid-1800s; Green Lake, TX 1880s; Camp Green Lake, late 1990s
• Climax: Ms. Morengo arrives, allowing Stanley and Hector to safely climb out of a hole with the mysterious suitcase and escape the Warden
• Antagonist: Trout Walker, the Warden, and the counselors
• Point of View: Third person omniscient

Extra Credit for Holes

Reading Should Be Fun. Sachar has said that he writes the kind of books he does (funny, with outlandish characters) with the intention of making reading enjoyable for young readers.

Sigourney Weaver. Sigourney Weaver, who plays the Warden in the film adaptation of Holes , initially expressed interest in working on the project due to the fact that her daughter loves the novel.

Buy This Book * More books by Louis Sachar

There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. When unlucky Stanley Yelnats is sent there as a punishment for a crime he didn’t commit, he finds himself digging holes in the relentless heat. His own family story, and that of the outlaw Kissin’ Kate Barlow, become intertwined as he digs away to find out the truth.

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

• The characters in Holes are mostly known by nicknames rather than their real names; invent appropriate new names for some of the characters.
• Write one of Stanley’s letters home. Remember that in these, he tells his parents what he thinks they want to hear rather than the truth!
• Design a wanted poster for Kissin’ Kate Barlow.
• Write a character profile for one of the characters.
• Write a newspaper report of Stanley’s trial.
• Make a storyboard for one of the timelines in the book.
• Why is the book called Holes? Can you think of an alternative title?
• Watch the film version and make a list of things that are different in the film to the book. Why do you think that is? Which do you prefer?
• Draw a map to show how Stanley’s character changes throughout the book.
• Louis Sachar has written  a guide to surviving Camp Green Lake . Can you write your own guide?
• Choose two characters from the book and write a list of similarities and differences.
• Make a list of the adjectives used to describe Camp Green Lake on the first page of the book. Using a thesaurus, add synonyms to this list.
• Write a report about conditions at Camp Green Lake.
• Make a list of ways in which characters in the book are lucky and unlucky.
• Make up some maths problems around digging holes. For example, if it takes one boy 5 hours to dig 1 hole, how long will it take 2 boys to dig 6 holes? If each hole is 1.5metres (approximately 5 feet) across, and there has to be a gap of 1 metre between holes,  what is the maximum number of holes that could be dug in an area 5m x 5m?
• Water is a precious resource, especially at Camp Green Lake. Research the reasons why water is so important to live and present them as a poster or information leaflet.
• Make a presentation about poisonous animals. What mechanisms are used to deliver poisons? Why are some animals poisonous?
• Use art software to produce a picture of the cabin at Camp Green Lake.
• Take a series of photos of a person digging a hole, then use software such as Windows Movie Maker to stitch them together into a short time-lapse film.

Design Technology

• Make a list of different ways of preserving food, including Kate Barlow’s spiced peaches.
• Design some new sneakers for Clyde Livingston.
• Stanley’s dad is trying to invent a way to recycle sneakers. Find out how items are recycled in your local area.
• Compare two paintings of lakes, for example,  Lake McArthur, Yoho Park, by James MacDonald , and  Lake George, by Georgia O’Keeffe . What are the similarities and differences between them?
• Compose a melody for the song “If only, if only, the moon speaks no reply.”
• Make a fact file about the state of Texas.
• Research a lake that has dried up.  This site is a good place to start .
• Using information from the book, draw a map of Camp Green Lake and the area around it.
• The lives of millions of people in the USA were impacted by the “Jim Crow” laws, which prevented black people from having the same rights as white people. Research and film a presentation about these laws and how they were removed through the efforts of the civil rights movement.  This Kiddle page  is a good starting point.

Physical education

• Digging holes helps Stanley to get fitter and stronger. Design a gymnastics routine that builds strength in your arms and upper body. For example, include a balance on your arms or a vault over a box.
• In the final chapter, Stanley and Zero each receive nearly 1 million dollars. If you were them, what would you spend it on?
• One of the themes of the book is friendship. In what ways do friends support each other in the book?
• Kate Barlow and Sam are not able to have a relationship due to racism. What can we do to value difference and diversity?
• Do you think that any of the boys should have been sent to Camp Green Lake? What other punishments might have been appropriate?

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Activities for the Book  Holes

Holes , by Louis Sachar, is one of my favorite young adult novels to read with my students.  Although it's challenging for my classes (reading level 5.2), it's funny, engaging, and smart.  This book doesn't talk down to my students.  It's proud of its complexity, but not too proud to be silly in all the right ways.  I mean, a book about pre-teen boys sweating away in a desert work camp is BOUND to include lots of stink-humor.  And my kids LOVE it.

Here are some activities I've used to wrap up and celebrate the end of the book.

Trivia Challenge

I selected 30 or so questions from the quizzes we've done along the way, focusing on themes and plot elements that run throughout the story (such as why Kate Barlow became an outlaw, how Zero and Stanley are connected back in their ancestry, what The Warden is really looking for, the importance of Stanley and Zero's journey on the mountain, etc).  I printed a clip art of a shovel in a hole and pasted one question onto the back of each.  I also printed a picture of treasure and one of a lizard (colored to have yellow spots).  Then I asked our secretary to laminate them all.

For the game, I laid the "holes" out on the floor.  Since my students were already divided into three groups, they played in their rotation groups, but you could group your students into any number of teams.  The objective is to "dig" the most "holes" by answering questions correctly.  The first player from the first team tosses a bean bag and has to answer the question the bean bag lands on.  I did not allow team-mates to help so that each individual student was accountable for full participation.  If the player cannot answer the question correctly, the card is returned to the floor.  Similar to memory games, other players should make note of the card's location, especially if they know the answer, so they can get an easy "hole" on their turn.  If the card has treasure on the back, everyone on the team gets a piece of candy (but I did not count this card as a "hole").  If the bean bag lands on a yellow-spotted lizard, the team must surrender a "hole."  The team with the most "holes" when all cards are collected is the winner.  Total game play for 3 teams of 5-6 students, 30+ cards, took us approximately 40-45 minutes.

My students were VERY engaged.  They cheered and jumped around for the treasure and groaned and yelled about the lizards.  And they KNEW the information!!  I was so impressed by how well they did!

Typically I make games that can be applied to multiple areas of content, so I was hesitant to spend this much time setting up a game that would just be used once a year.  But this book is such a hit year after year that I felt it was worth it. 

Extension Idea:

This game could be used as an assessment.  You could call students back one at a time to toss the bean bag to answer a set number of questions, however many you want for your assessment.  You could tally how many they get right or wrong.  You could even number the cards to keep question statistics, such as which questions were most often missed, etc.  You could take a quiz or assessment score right from the game!  I'd probably remove the lizard cards but keep the treasure in for random candy/sticker incentives along the way.

Celebration Stations

To celebrate the end of the book, I set up centers around the room for the following activities:

1) Holes-inspired treats: donut holes, samples of various kinds of onions, dirt pudding, and sploosh (for us, I used peach-flavored applesauce, but peach preserves, sliced peaches, etc would also work).

2) What's Your Nickname prompt: I printed this page.  The students wrote their Holes nickname on the name tag picture and then wrote a sentence explanation on the page.  I had name tag stickers for them to wear too.  We then hung the prompts in the hallway.

3) Yellow-Spotted Lizard pencil pals: The students traced my example lizard twice onto craft foam, cut them out, and then I helped hot-glue them together along the sides, leaving the space down the middle open.  I allowed the students to use any color spots they wanted.  Once dry, you can slide a pencil down inside.  This "pencil pal" keeps pencils from rolling off the desk.

4) Moon Sand: On a teacher message board, a teacher said they go outside to dig holes every year to celebrate the end of the book.  She said it's the student's favorite activity every year.  I found this surprising and funny, so I told my class about it.  And guess what--they all wanted to go dig holes.  I don't know if you're familiar with February in Indiana, but our ground's pretty frozen.  That's a no-go.  But I found a recipe on Pinterest (yay!) for moon sand that called for 8 cups flour and 1 cup baby oil.  I had about 3/4 cup baby oil, so I supplemented with cooking oil, and it seemed to work just fine :)  I dumped the whole concoction in a large bucket, tossed in some sand box toys, and laid down a plastic table cloth to protect the floor.  I tried it out at home with my own kiddos first, and I have a couple observations: my 3 year old was less messy than my 6th graders, and my 6th graders enjoyed the moon sand as much as my 3 year old.  What a hit!

5) Of course, the movie was part of our celebration too!  

Writing Prompt

We had ISTEP coming up in a week.  But even if you don't have statewide testing (lucky!) or aren't in testing season, writing prompts are great assessments.  This was the prompt I used:

I printed several on a page and then cut them apart to affix to photocopied ISTEP prompt paper to keep the experience as authentic to our assessment as possible.

I used this rubric (though I'm no expert at rubric-making).  The students do peer assessing first which helps deepen their own understanding of the writing process while also helping them catch their weaknesses.  After revising, I grade.  I use the rubric as a basic checklist (the element is present or isn't), but you could use a point scale too.

That's our Holes celebration, at a glance. 

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Holes by Louis Sachar

This page contains printables that can be used for a literature study unit on the book Holes , by Louis Sachar. Download and print reading comprehension questions, vocabulary activities, bookmarks, and puzzles to use with the book.

Chapters 1-6

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Chapters 7-13

Chapters 14-20, chapters 21-28, chapters 29-35, chapters 36-42, chapters 43-50, literature circles.

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