I was picking up some books at the resale shop and for some reason found myself browsing in the childrens books. It seemed like the usual fare at first, some Dr. Seuss, a mangy copy of a Clifford book, a few ratty Choose Your Own Adventure paperbacks, Hugh Hefners autobiography, some smut called The Very Virile Viking, and Pimp by Iceberg Slim. Tucked amongst all this tawdry trash was something called Holes, which seemed to make sense sandwiched between Pimp and Hefs life saga.I soon realized that there was a movie based on this book made a few years back, which I had never bothered with, but, to my shock and awe, Holes was the work of Louis Sideways-Stories Sachar. As a long-time fan of the preposterous Wayside School stories, I immediately picked this up (along with the other aforementioned books) and decided to bump it up on my to-read list. I had no idea Sachar had even done any other work, and I was interested to see what hed bring to the table.I have to admit, I wasnt nearly as impressed with Holes as I thought I might be. This might be due to the unrealistically high expectations I had based on my previous Sachar experience, or the fact that since they took the time and bankroll to make a movie based off this work, it obviously had to be incredible. The palindromically-named Stanley Yelnats is a good-spirited and festively plump little kid who is shipped off to a boys reform program at Camp Green Lake as punishment for stealing a pair of shoes being donated to charity by Clyde Sweet Feet Livingston. However, poor Stanley never stole the shoes, hes been wrongfully accused, which is something hes accustomed to, since his family is under the influence of a malevolent gypsy curse which began due to an oversight by his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. This evil hex has brought misery and financial ruin to the Yelnats clan since it was first laid, and each male heir to the Yelnats throne vainly hopes to be the one to break this vicious cycle. It isnt looking too promising for Stanley to be the chosen one, as hes shipped off to Camp Green Lake, which is the dusty basin of a once-flourishing lake which has since dried up under the scorching desert sun. His duty at the Camp is torturous; each day he must wake up at cock-crow and dig a hole five feet deep by five feet wide, while eluding the venomous yellow-spotted lizards which infest the area. Spitting in each completed hole is optional, and Stanley opts for this luxury at the insistence of his peers.The narrative of Stanleys troubles at the camp are intertwined with the background of how this dread gypsy curse came about and also with the story of Kissing Katie Barlow, an outlaw that robbed his great-grandfather. While Stanley toils to dig hole after hole under the strict rule of the Warden and her lackeys (Mr. Pendanski and Mr. Sir), the tale of the curse unfolds, in which his great-great-grandfather Elya is vying for the hand of wealthy hottie Myra back in their motherland of Latvia. In order to win her hand, Myras father stipulates that the stud who presents the choicest pig as a gift will get the girl (which I hear is still a popular practice back in Riga), which leads Elya into cahoots with the gypsy, Madame Zeroni. Things take a turn for the worse for Elya, and he ends up not only forgetting to perform a favor for the gypsy, but he also gives away the hog as a wedding present to his rival. Even more spectacular is the downfall of the kind-hearted Katie Barlow, a benevolent teacher who begins an interracial relationship with an onionmonger named Sam in the Green Lake area. The ignorant townsfolk dont cotton to this pairing and end up killing Sam (and his onion-chomping mule, Mary Lou), which leads the once-peaceful teacher to life as an outlaw. Barlow also happened to rob Stanleys great-grandfather, and before kicking the bucket, she ended up burying all her ill-gotten gains somewhere in the parched and dry bowl of the former lake, a treasure yet to be unearthed that the Warden presumably is trying to locate with all this absurd hole-digging.The story is pretty enjoyable, for the most part it follows in the silly tradition of the Sachar work I am familiar with, however, the fact that he had to throw a message in there pretty much turned me off. Stanley and his fellow detainees at the Camp are a motley bunch, a mixed-race group of transgressors who are coming to terms with their own cultural identities. When Stanley makes an arrangement with black camper Zero to teach him to read in exchange for his labor, the others drop some slave references. The saga of Katie Barlow and Sam, however, far eclipses this childish prattle, and firmly beats the reader of the head with the love-your-brother-stick. At one point, Sachar even states that god himself punished the intolerant populous of Green Lake using the 100 year drought that turned a thriving lake into a dust bowl. The whole race relations bit was generally annoying, and perhaps what might have bothered me most was that in his preaching, Sachar makes it clear how wrong it is to consider someone of color illiterate, stupid, or treacherous, but its fully acceptable to include the stereotype of a curse-casting gypsy thrown into the storyline. Overall, the story comes together predictably and nicely, but the insistence with which Sachar clubbed me over the head with his message bothered me.

Funny story: I'm trying to shelve this book, and can't remember if it had been banned (but I thought it had - google confirmed). At the same time, my friend Allison and I are chatting on Google Chat, and she starts ranting about how ridiculous book banning is (an opinion with which I agree wholeheartedly). Anyway, the conversation went like this: me: Is Holes a banned book? I can't rememberallison: dunno... the whole concept of banned books is stupid. I mean, you could find a reason to gripe about any bookme: yes, I agreeallison: I think The Replacement should be banned because there is a scene talking about knives in the kitchenallison: VIOLENCEme: haha just waitallison: and he sits on his roofallison: DANGEROUS BEHAVIORallison: RECKLESSme: He says the F word, and there are BOOBIES!allison: PORNOGRAPHYme: IMMORALITY!allison: lolallison: or you could go the other way and be totally ridiculousallison: Holes doesn't directly support a gay lifestyleallison: BAN ITme: But it does...allison: oh well then uh...me: all those boys are in and out of holes all day longNeedless to say, there was laughter. Sometimes I crack myself up. Anyway, all witty repartee aside, I really liked this book. I have no idea why it would have been banned unless it was because a kid hits a jerk in the face with a shovel for being a complete ass to him day in and day out? That's probably it. ENCOURAGING VIOLENT BEHAVIOR AND DISRESPECT FOR AUTHORITY! BAN IT!I loved Stanley, but in all truth, I loved Zero more. He was the star of this show for me. I wanted everything to work out for him, and I was on pins and needles worrying about him when things started to go bad for him. I mean, these kids committed crimes, or at least they were accused of committing crimes, but they weren't BAD or EVIL. Punishment is one thing, but the kind of things that these kids were made to do is nothing short of abuse. And what's sad is that probably isn't a far stretch from what really happens - although probably for different reasons. I enjoyed how the three different storylines all came together in this one, and seeing the little bits of each one felt like discovering a gem. I'd have this, "OH!" moment each time something was revealed that linked something else... Really fun to read. I really enjoyed this one, and I look forward to seeing the movie soon, since I hear from Allison that it's fabulous. :)

I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but it seems I'm no longer absolutely cool in my daughter's eyes. I could understand if her particular issues with me were current fashion or "the" things to do while hanging out with friends, but books? BOOKS?!? Oh, the pain!I don't say anything about the girly girl preteen drivel she loves to read (after all, I occasionally read girly girl grownup drivel) and I recommend a wide range of books (while keeping in mind she doesn't have the same penchant for sf/fantasy as I do.) She is a voracious reader, will happily read things her teacher recommends, and liked the books that 'Santa' gave her.So why does she sneer every time I hand her a book? (well, she doesn't sneer *every* time, sometimes it's just a withering look or a "nah, I don't think so") I'm not sure how I acquired this book, and it was one I hadn't read as a kid. I suggested that Maya and I read it together since we've been enjoying reading aloud at bedtime. She read the blurb on the cover, handed it back to me and said "Nah." I said, "Let's give it a shot.""Oh, it's an award winner, isn't it...uh uh," she replied.I then said, "Uh huh, we're giving this a shot."Cue withering look.The book quickly won her over. The short chapters are perfect for bedtime reading...we never had to stop in the middle of a chapter, and most nights read several chapters. The author weaves together several plots. Each thread is connected, but he deftly gives us just the bits of information we need at any given point, and it all comes together at the end wonderfully. I loved when Maya would make a connection and exclaim, "Oh - those are Sam's onions!" or gasp, "Oh no! That's what really happened?!"Final verdict? She loved it, and so did I.Apparently I am capable of choosing good books.Not that she'll remember that when I hand her the next book.