Holes — Content Guide for Parents
Found in this book
- ViolenceSupporting
- Scary contentSupporting
- Race & cultureSupporting
- Gender rolesBriefTraditional roles
Not found
- Religion
- Profanity
- Climate
- Sexual content
- Gender & orientation
Content themes
Factual summary of themes present in this book. No opinion — just the facts.
Get the full theme breakdown in the app
Summaries and source quotes for every theme.
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Religion
PRESENTContains references to prayer and church attendance. A minister character plays a supporting role in two chapters.
About this book
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.
It 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
—and redemption.
Special anniversary edition bonus content includes: A New Note From the Author!; "Ten Things You May Not Know About HOLES" by Louis Sachar; and more!
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Frequently asked questions
Is Holes appropriate for a 7-year-old?
Boys fistfight, a counselor is hit with a shovel, guns are fired, a Black man is shot dead in a flashback, and the outlaw's victims are shot or poisoned, though the story is mostly a mystery adventure. The book has a harsh warden, deadly lizard and snake venom, a slow painful death, and a boy walked through the desert at gunpoint, though the tone stays fairly light.
Does Holes have violence?
Found (Supporting): Boys fistfight, a counselor is hit with a shovel, guns are fired, a Black man is shot dead in a flashback, and the outlaw's victims are shot or poisoned, though the story is mostly a mystery adventure.
Does Holes have scary content?
Found (Supporting): The book has a harsh warden, deadly lizard and snake venom, a slow painful death, and a boy walked through the desert at gunpoint, though the tone stays fairly light.
Does Holes have religion?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does Holes have race & culture?
Found (Supporting): A flashback tells of a white schoolteacher and a Black man in 19th-century Texas whose relationship leads to a racist mob attack and his murder, which sets off the later events.
Does Holes have profanity?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does Holes have climate?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does Holes have sexual content?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does Holes have gender roles?
Found (Brief, Traditional roles): Camp adults use gender expectations to shame boys, telling them they are weak or humiliating them for crying.
Does Holes have gender & orientation?
Not found in the sources we checked.
