Holes by Louis Sachar Chapter Summaries: 1 to 16

Chapter 1: Camp Green Lake Introduced to Camp Green Lake The only place where there is shade is between two trees where there is a hammock. The hammock belongs to the Warden Camp Green Lake seems dangerous: there are rattlesnakes and scorpions hide; worst of all is the yellow-spotted lizard

Chapter 2: Stanley Yelnats Camp Green Lake is where bad boys are sent to dig holes (it’s supposed to be good for them) Novel’s protagonist = Stanley Yelnats Stanley has high hopes for CGL (hopes it will be like a summer camp)

Chapter 3: Stanley’s Past Stanley rides to CGL on a bus with an armed guard; he has little with him Stanley is overweight and has been bullied Stanley was arrested for a crime he did not commit Stanley’s family seems to attract bad luck (but they have a habit of blaming Stanley's no-good-dirty-rotten- pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather); a family legend suggests they are cursed (gypsy curse) Stanley’s father is an inventor Stanley’s great grandfather made a fortune on the stock market but was robbed by Kissin' Kate Barlow

Chapter 4: Arrival Stanley arrives at CGL: he sees few signs of life Stanley meets Mr Sir: he is stripped, and allocated two sets of orange jumpsuits, orange T-shirts, yellow socks, and one towel CGL’s regime of hole digging is explained to him Mr Sir explains that his gun is used for the yellow-spotted lizards (and not the kids) Mr Sir asks Stanley if he is thirsty and when Stanley responds that he is, Mr. Sir tells him to get used to it

Chapter 5: Tent D Stanley is assigned to Tent D with Mr Pendanski as his counsellor; Mr Pendanski warns Stanley not to upset the Warden Stanley meets Rex and Alan (X-Ray and Squid); the campers are very dirty X-Ray wears glasses (hence, his nickname) and asks what happened to Barf Bag (Mr. Pendanski replies that he is in the hospital and will not be returning) Stanley is shown his cot, which previously belonged to Barf Bag. Other campers arrive: José/Magnet, Theodore/Armpit, and Ricky/Zigzag Zero is the last boy that Stanley meets: Mr. Pendanski claims that Zero has nothing inside his head Mr. Pendanski asks everyone to help Stanley get adjusted to the camp (and then leaves) Stanley asks Theodore where he can find water and Theodore reacts violently (says his name is Armpit)

Chapter 6: Stanley’s Crime Stanley takes a cold and quick shower and eats a disgusting dinner Another camper asks him what he got in trouble for – Stanley tells him that he stole a pair of sneakers from Clyde "Sweet Feet" Livingston. No one believes him. Later, Stanley thinks back to how he came to be arrested: Stanley has been bullied at school… as a result, he missed the bus home… while he was walking, a pair of shoes had fallen from the sky… he was keen to give them to his father, so he started running… because he was running, a police car pulled him over and took the shoes

Chapter 7: First Hole and Madame Zeroni Stanley has a hard time digging his first hole: he quickly develops painful blisters on his hands More of Stanley's family history is revealed: Stanley's great-great-grandfather was from Latvia and his name was Elya Yelnats Elya was in love with a girl called Myra but needs a pig to win her hand Elya visits his friend Madame Zeroni, an old Egyptian woman with only one foot Madame Zeroni thinks Myra is a waste of space, and advises Elya to go to America instead. He refuses, so Madame Zeroni gives him a small pig to look after, as well as a list of instructions about how to make to pig grow (involving singing a song to it and carrying it up a mountain to a strange stream) … (continued over)

… Elya follows the instructions, and the pig grows He eventually decides that Myra is stupid and gets on a boat bound for America, forgetting his promise to Madame Zeroni (to sing to her, and take her to the stream) Elya never forgets Madame Zeroni’s song (about a woodpecker and a wolf who wish their life was easier) and passes it on to his son, the first Stanley Yelnats Bad luck seems to follow for the family: Elya begins to believe that Madame Zeroni has cursed him

Chapter 8: Yellow-spotted Lizard The dangerous yellow-spotted lizard is described: Yellow-green body with eleven yellow spots Black teeth and white tongues Like to live in holes Can leap out of even very deep holes in order to attack their prey Like to eat small animals, insects, cactus thorns and sunflower seeds

Chapter 9: Wreck/Rec Room Stanley is exhausted after digging his first hole He returns to camp and enters the recreation room: everyone calls it the wreck room and everything in it is broken Stanley bumps into a large boy who tries to pick a fight with him; Stanley tries to avoid the fight and X-Ray and Armpit come to his rescue saying, "You don't want to mess with the Caveman" Stanley, Armpit, Squid, and X-Ray talk about the trouble with digging holes Stanley sits down to write a letter to his mother: Squid reacts negatively to this (scowls) In his letter, Stanley tells his mother he is having fun and swimming a lot Zero approaches and asks Stanley, "Did the shoes have red X's on the back?" Stanley realises that his nickname is Caveman

Chapter 10: Second Hole Stanley's second hole is also very hard to dig He finds a fossil fish: Stanley shows the fish fossil to Mr. Pendanski but Mr. Pendanski says that the fossil is not what the Warden wants. When the water truck comes Stanley notices that there is always an order to the line, with X-Ray followed by Armpit, Squid, Zigzag, Magnet, Zero, and then Stanley

Chapter 11: X-Ray X-Ray asks Stanley to give him anything else interesting that he might find Stanley agrees because he wants X-Ray to like him Stanley wonders why everyone follows what X-Ray does: he realizes that X-Ray is the smallest boy apart from Zero and that he, Stanley, is actually the largest boy

Chapter 12: Mr. Pendanski and Zero Stanley gets back to the camp late Mr. Pendanski is talking with the boys: he asks each boy what he wants to do as a career Mr. Pendanski suggests even Zero is not totally worthless and then asks Zero what he would like to do when he leaves CGL – Zero is silent at first but then he replies that he likes digging holes

Chapter 13: Discovery Stanley finds a small gold tube with a heart engraved on it: inside are the initials KB Stanley gives X-Ray the tube X-Ray keeps the tube until the next day so that if the Warden likes what he has found he can get the whole day off instead of just an hour When the water line forms, X-Ray tells Stanley to move up one place in line, ahead of Zero

Chapter 14: The Warden The next morning, X-Ray pretends to find the gold tube; Mr Pendanski goes to inform the Warden The Warden is a tall woman with red hair and freckles; she wears a cowboy hat and black cowboy boots studded with turquoise stones X-Ray is given the day off Mr Pendanski is ordered to fill the canteens for the boys again – when he replies that he has just filled them, the Warden is angered and tells Mr Pendanski to fill them without questioning her authority

Chapter 15: X-Ray’s Hole The Warden orders Zero to dig X-Ray's hole and Stanley to sift through the dirt that Zero digs; she puts two boys on every hole, one to dig and the other to sift All of the boys are promised a double shower and the day off if they find anything Stanley wonders how the Warden knew he was called Caveman and Zigzag tells him that the Warden has small hidden cameras and microphones all around the camp Stanley realises that the Warden in looking for something (hence, the digging): he makes a mental note of the location of the hole that he found the gold tube in

Chapter 16: Relationships The next day the Warden follows the boys to their holes Stanley wonders what the gold tube might have been The Warden grows tired and orders Mr Sir to make the boys work faster; nothing is found Later, in the ‘wreckroom,’ Stanley receives a letter from his mother: Armpit and Squid taunt Stanley about the letter, but X-Ray defends him Stanley relates a funny thing his mother wrote to Zero, who is still in the ‘wreck room’ but Zero doesn’t get it; Zero also doesn’t get Stanley’s reference to Sesame Street