By: Louis Sachar
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Stanley Yelnats and his family have been cursed to experience bad luck for eternity. When Stanley gets sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile correctional facility, for something he didn’t do, he and the other inmates are forced to dig one hole five feet deep and five feet wide per day. The Warden says it is for making them better people, but Stanley thinks she is lying. While Stanley is at camp, he meets and becomes friends with Zero.
One day, Stanley is digging and finds a lipstick container with the initials K.B carved into it. The Warden is secretly surprised and orders everyone to dig as many holes as possible. However they find nothing else. A few weeks later, Zero and the other boys get into a fight and Stanley gets hurt. The counselors try to calm Zero down but loses it and throws his shovel at one of the guards, Mr. Pendanski and Zero ran away. Stanley follows him and they go up a mountain and find an onion patch and survive on onions. A few days later, they decide to head back in the middle of the night and sneak back to camp. They dig a hole and discover lost treasure, However, there are poisonous lizards waiting for them. The lizards can’t eat them because onion blood will kill them. They are rescued and Stanley’s lawyer comes back and confirmed that he didn’t commit the crime and he and Zero get set free with the money.
One thing I didn’t like about the book was that it was choppy when it jumped around from present to past and back again, and it seemed to lack an overall climax or story arc because it really consisted of many smaller stories. Some people might like that book but it really isn’t my taste.It was also very gory and violent which made me dislike the book more.
Grade Recommendations
4th – 6th
Tags
Jail, curse
