"I'm not going to run away," Stanley said. "Good thinking, " said Mr Sir. "Nobody runs away from here. We don't need a fence. Know why? Because we've got the only water for a hundred miles. You want to run away? You'll be buzzard food in three days." Stanley could see some kids dressed in orange and carrying shovels dragging themselves towards the tents. "You thirsty?" asked Mr Sir. "Yes, Mr Sir," Stanley said gratefully. "Well, you better get used to it. You're going to be thirsty for the next eighteen months."

If you are looking for a truly remarkable novel, something to get your teeth into, something to make you think, and something to make you feel that you have just touched real class, then look no further than Louis Sachar's extraordinary, award-winning novel Holes.

Camp Greenlake is a place for bad boys, where the belief is: "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." When Stanley Yelnats, accused and found guilty of a crime he did not commit, is sent to Camp Greenlake he really doesn't think it can be so bad. Stanley and his family try to pretend that he is just going away to camp like the rich kids do, and he promises to write to them every day. But the harsh realities of the camp, and the evil Warden with her lizard-venom impregnated fingernails with her own reasons for making the boys in her charge dig so many holes, sometimes make dying seem like a great idea. When Stanley leaves the camp to go in search of his friend Zero, their journey towards freedom becomes a battle with hunger, thirst and heat in the shadow of Big Thumb--a mountain so entwined in Stanley's own family history that he knows if they can reach it they will somehow find salvation.

A complex story, riddled with the harsh imagery and barren despair, Holes is a perceptive and intricate homage to family and friendship which never shies away from the harshest of realities yet injects the story of a seemingly hopeless boy with a sly, sideways humour that crackles against the backdrop of the arid wastelands of the desert. A must for anyone, young or old, who relishes an intelligent, courageous and dynamic read. (Age 11 and over) --Susan Harrison

This was my 11 year old's book which I picked up before taking a long train journey. I'm not too sure what I was expecteing but it certainly wasn't the enrichment I got from reading this book in a few hours.

Great for kids & great for adults.

It's written in a very approachable style with good descriptive passages & the story is revealed at a steady pace.

If you're looking for something for your 9 - 13 year old, get this - it's contemporary & cool. If you fancy a go yourself, go ahead - it's got a decent story to it.

It was also made into a film by Disney which perhaps adds to the deal.

Highly recommended.

I bought this book off Amazon on recommendation from the website itself. On receiving the book I wondered was it a bit immature for a well read 31 year old male. It is a children's book but so are "Harry Potter" and "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" and I cannot but say how enjoyable a read this book is. Maybe it brought out the child in me but I was captivated from the first page with the characters, the plot and the setting. It reads like a modern fairytale and if you are an adult wondering should I read this then do, as the most time it will take up is a few hours and I think you wont be disappointed.

I could feel the heat and was there with him digging in the arid dusty earth. A wonderful story with lots of tangental story lines that come together so beautifully at the end. As a Librarian within a Primary School, I often pick up children's books to browse through over my morning coffee but this one made its way into my bag to enjoy curled up on my sofa.
A refreshing deviation from the fantasy genre. Excellent particularly for Year 5 to 7

It's clever. It's a good fast read with lots of effective storytelling devices. I loved it and so did my son.

Holes is my favourite book in the world because it was the book that got me into reading properly and I love it for that. Therefore I strongly recommend this book to anybody who can't get into good books and does not find reading much fun or find that it passes the time quickly, but I got lost in it after the first few chapters! I was that sort of person before i realised there were tonnes of books like Holes out there. And also, try not to see the film before you read the book if you have not seen it, but still if you have it is still a great book.