HolesHoles
Score Modern
What it's about
Stanley Yelnats has terrible luck, which his family blames on a curse placed on his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather. When he's wrongly convicted of stealing a famous baseball player's sneakers, he's sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp in the Texas desert where there's no lake, and every boy must dig a hole five feet wide and five feet deep every day. The warden is looking for something.
Why it's worth reading
It won the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award for young people's literature and was voted onto the BBC's Big Read. Its interlocking stories, past and present, fit together perfectly.
You'll love it if you liked
The Giver
The Outsiders
The Secret GardenGood to know
It's written for middle-grade readers but adults love it. A historical subplot includes a racist killing. The 2003 film is faithful.
By the numbers
- Readers46 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller53 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #107 of the 219 young adult books we rank
- #873 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #1618 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Adventurous, Gripping
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Quick answers
Is Holes worth reading?
Yes. It won the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award for young people's literature and was voted onto the BBC's Big Read. It ranks #1,618 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 67.3 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Holes about?
Stanley Yelnats has terrible luck, which his family blames on a curse placed on his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather. When he's wrongly convicted of stealing a famous baseball player's sneakers, he's sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp in the Texas desert where there's no lake, and every boy must dig a hole five feet wide and five feet deep every day. The warden is looking for something.
How long does it take to read Holes?
About 7 hours (272 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Holes?
If you liked it, try The Giver by Lois Lowry, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton or The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.