Holes by Louis Sachar:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0440414803/ref=nosim?tag=beyondwordsle-20

Overview: Stanley Yelnat’s family is a loving one, but the family has suffered a lot of bad luck.  Now Stanley is unjustly convicted of a crime that he did not commit and is sent to a juvenile detention camp in West Texas.

There, the boys are required to “build character” by digging a five-foot hole every day in the desert dirt surrounding the camp.  Stanley suspects that there is more to this activity than character-building; he thinks the warden might be looking for something buried nearby. Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment —and redemption.

This is a fun mystery/adventure novel with lots of plot twists and turns, lots of humorous episodes, and a hugely satisfying ending. It also has great examples of irony, symbolism, flashbacks, and foreshadowing, making it a great book to read in junior high after studying those literary elements.

Included:

• a fun introductory activity before reading

• a multiple-choice quiz on Chapters 1-9 with key

• a multiple-choice quiz on Chapters 10-20 with key

• a multiple-choice quiz on Chapters 37-43 with key

• a fun enrichment activity called "Mom! Dad! Wow! It's a Palindrome!"

• a complete 50-question novel test with key

• a lesson packet called "Digging Deeper into Holes: Symbolism, Irony, and Plot Elements. Contains explanations, examples, and three short student assessments.

• A Word Search Puzzle

   

Age Level and Length:  This book is great for a wide age range. Ages 9 and up (fourth grade and up) will enjoy this book.   The vocabulary level is 4^th grade; interest level also appeals to 4^th grade and up.  Those who are in grades 6-8 will get even more out of it because they will pick up on the many instances of foreshadowing, irony, and symbolism.  The book is 233 pages.  The average 7^th grader will take about 5 hours over numerous sessions to read this book.  The test here takes 35 minutes or less, and quizzes take 10 minutes or less.  The “Digging Deeper” activity, which is for grades 6 and up, may take up to 30 minutes.

Maturity or Political Issues: There is a mention of one character being murdered by gunshot, and another character dying after being bitten by a poisonous snake.  (Both incidents happened to adults in flashback scenes set more than a century ago.) There is one romantic kiss in the book. The kiss happened between Sam and Kate Barlow in a flashback scene from long ago.  Sam was Black and Kate was white, and this fact enraged several townspeople, which led to the murder of Sam.  There is a brief mention of a possible “curse” on Stanley’s family, because they have suffered from bad luck for several generations.  This is never confirmed, and the book has a happy ending. These elements are presented in a fairly short and simplistic way without great detail. There are no political statements.

Additional Considerations: Holes is a New York Times bestseller and one of the strongest-selling middle-grade books to ever hit the shelves. It is fun, funny, and entertaining, and can be appreciated at several levels by different age levels.  The movie Holes is great to watch after reading the book.  The movie is extremely faithful to the book and has an all-star cast.  Another book by Louis Sachar called Small Steps is sometimes called a sequel to Holes because it details the activities of another character named Armpit from the original book.  The sequel is not as popular and not as well- reviewed as the original Holes novel.