{"product_id":"holes-isbn-9780739331767","title":"Holes","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis groundbreaking classic is now available in a special anniversary edition with bonus content. Winner of the Newbery Medal as well as the National Book Award, HOLES is a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestseller and one of the strongest-selling middle-grade books to ever hit shelves!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment\u003cbr\u003e—and redemption.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpecial anniversary edition bonus content includes: A New Note From the Author!; \"Ten Things You May Not Know About\u003ci\u003e HOLES\" \u003c\/i\u003eby Louis Sachar; and more!\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Newbery Medal\u003cbr\u003eWinner of the National Book Award\u003cbr\u003e#1 New York Times Bestseller\u003cbr\u003eA New York Public Library's 100 Great Children's Books 100 Years Selection\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003ePARADE\u003c\/i\u003e BEST KIDS BOOK OF ALL TIME\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A \u003cb\u003edazzling\u003c\/b\u003e blend of social commentary, tall tale and magic realism.\" \u003ci\u003e —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There is no question, \u003cb\u003ekids will love \u003ci\u003eHoles\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\"\u003ci\u003e —School Library Journal, Starred Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[A] rugged, \u003cb\u003eengrossing adventure.\u003c\/b\u003e\"\u003ci\u003e —Kirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This \u003cb\u003edelightfully clever story\u003c\/b\u003e is well-crafted and thought-provoking.\"\u003ci\u003e —VOYA\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[Sachar] comes fully, brilliantly into his own voice. \u003cb\u003eThis is a can't-put-it-down read.\u003c\/b\u003e\"\u003ci\u003e —The Bulletin\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eLouise Sachar\u003c\/b\u003e was born in East Meadow, New York and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and Hastings College of Law. He is married and has one daughter. He writes at his home in Austin, Texas under the watchful eyes of his dogs Lucky and Tippy.Stanley Yelnats was the only passenger on the bus, not counting the driver or the  guard. The guard sat next to the driver with his seat turned around facing Stanley.  A rifle lay across his lap.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Stanley was sitting about ten rows back, handcuffed  to his armrest. His backpack lay on the seat next to him. It contained his toothbrush,  toothpaste, and a box of stationary his mother had given him. He’d promised to write  to her at least once a week.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e He looked out the window, although there wasn’t  much to see—mostly fields of hay and cotton. He was on a long bus ride to nowhere.  The bus wasn’t air-conditioned, and the hot heavy air was almost as stifling as the  handcuffs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Stanley and his parents had tried to pretend that he was just going  away to camp for a while, just like rich kids do. When Stanley was younger he used  to play with stuffed animals, and pretend the animals were at camp. Camp Fun and  Games he called it. Sometimes he’d have them play soccer with a marble. Other times  they’d run an obstacle course, or go bungee jumping off a table, tied to broken rubber  bands. Now Stanley tried to pretend he was going to Camp Fun and Games. Maybe he’ d make some friends, he thought. At least he’d get to swim in the lake.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e He didn’ t have any friends at home. He was overweight and the kids at his middle school often  teased him about his size. Even his teachers sometimes made cruel comments without  realizing it. On his last day of school, his math teacher, Mrs. Bell, taught ratios.  As an example, she chose the heaviest kid in the class and the lightest kid in the  class, and had them weigh themselves. Stanley weighed three times as much as the  other boy. Mrs. Bell wrote the ratio on the board, 3:1, unaware of how much embarrassment  she had caused both of them.\u003cbr\u003e Stanley was arrested later that day.\u003cbr\u003e He looked  at the guard who sat slumped in his seat and wondered of he had fallen asleep. The  guard was wearing sunglasses, so Stanley couldn’t see his eyes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Stanley was not  a bad kid. He was innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. He’d just been  in the wrong place at the wrong time. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It was all because of his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather!  \u003cbr\u003e He smiled. It was a family joke. Whenever anything went wrong, they always blamed  Stanley’s no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Supposedly,  he had a great-great-grandfather who had stolen a pig from one-legged Gypsy, and  she put a curse on him and all his descendants. Stanley and his parents didn’t believe  in curses, of course, but whenever anything went wrong, it felt good to be able to  blame someone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Things went wrong a lot. They always seemed to be in the wrong  place at the wrong time. \u003cbr\u003e He looked out the window at the vast emptiness. He watched  the rise and fall of a telephone wire. In his mind he could hear his father’s gruff  voice softly singing to him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e “If only, if only,”  the woodpecker sighs, \u003cbr\u003e “The bark on the tree was just a  little bit softer.”\u003cbr\u003e “While the wolf waits below, hungry and  lonely,\u003cbr\u003e He cries to the moo–oo–oon,\u003cbr\u003e “If only, if only.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It was a song  his father used to sing to him. The melody was sweet and sad, but Stanley’s favorite  part was when his father would howl the word “moon”.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The bus hit a small bump and  the guard sat up, instantly alert.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Stanley’s father was an inventor. To be a  successful inventor you need three things: intelligence, perseverance, and just a  little bit of luck. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Stanley’s father was smart and had a lot of perseverance. Once  he started a project he would work on it for years, often going days without sleep.  He just never had any luck. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Every time an experiment failed, Stanley could hear  him cursing his dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Stanley’s  father was also named Stanley Yelnats. Stanley’s father’s full name was Stanley Yelnats  III. Our Stanley is Stanley Yelnats IV.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Everyone in his family had always liked  the fact that “Stanley Yelnats” was spelled the same frontward and backward. So they  kept naming their sons Stanley. Stanley was an only child, as was every other Stanley  Yelnats before him. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e All of them had something else in common. Despite their awful  luck, they always remained hopeful. As Stanley’s father liked to say, “ I learned  from failure.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But perhaps that was part of the curse as well. If Stanley and  his father weren’t always hopeful, then it wouldn’t hurt so much every time their  hopes were crushed. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Not every Stanley Yelnats has been a failure,” Stanley’s  mother often pointed out, whenever Stanley or his father became so discouraged that  they actually started to believe in the curse. The first Stanley Yelnats, Stanley’ s great-grandfather, had made a fortune in the stock market. “He couldn’t have been  too unlucky.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e At such times she neglected to mention the bad luck that befell  the first Stanley Yelnats. He lost his entire fortune when he was moving from New  York to California. His stagecoach was robbed by the outlaw Kissin' Kate Barlow.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e If it weren’t for that, Stanley’s family would now be living in a mansion on a  beach in California. Instead, they were crammed in a tiny apartment that smelled  of burning rubber and foot odor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e “If only, if only….\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The apartment smelled  the way it did because Stanley’s father was trying to invent a way to recycle old  sneakers. “The first person who finds a use for old sneakers, “ he said, “will be  a very rich man.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It was this lastest project that led to Stanley’s arrest. \u003cbr\u003e The bus ride became increasingly bumpy because the road was no longer paved. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Actually, Stanley had been impressed when he first found out that is great-grandfather  was robbed by Kissin’ Kate Barlow. True, he would have preferred living on the beach  in California, but it was still kind of cool to have someone in your family robbed  by a famous outlaw.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Kate Barlow didn’t actually kiss Stanley’s great-grandfather.  That would have been really cool, but she only kissed the men she killed. Instead,  she robbed him and left him stranded in the middle of the desert.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “He was \u003ci\u003elucky\u003c\/i\u003e to have survived,” Stanley’s mother was quick to point out. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The bus was slowing  down. The guard grunted as he stretched out his arms. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Welcome Camp Green Lake,”  said the driver. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Stanley looked out the dirty window. He couldn’t see a lake.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e And hardly anything was green.","brand":"Listening Library","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46299833696485,"sku":"NP9780739331767","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780739331767.jpg?v=1767729132","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/holes-isbn-9780739331767","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}