Holes by Louis Sachar

Well I finally read the book Holes, by Louis Sachar. I've seen the movie several times. I'm a big fan of Shia LaBeouf. This is one of those rare occasion when a movie actually follows the book, almost to a T. The only real difference is that Shia is not a tall overweight kind of kid. I love the movie, and I love the book.

There are several things I try to think of when reading books. Things that I've been told that "newbies" like myself must stick to religiously in order to get into the business. So when I commentate on a book, I'm going to try to fit it into my scale and see if the writing style helps me on my road of learning or not.

1. Point of view - other than switching from the present to the past and then to the present again, the POV is from Stanley. I didn't notice any POV slips (like there would be any, even when I wanted there to be - I would have loved to see the warden and Mr. Sir squirming back at camp while everyone wondered if Stanley and Zero were still alive)

2. Show vs. Tell - I think it started off just a bit slow, but I've read slower, and in fact didn't finish something before because even after 10 minutes I didn't feel like I'd gotten anywhere. Things were definitely shown and not just told in this book. The desert heat, the food, the pain from digging, the smells :)...

3. Bookisms - If there were any (ending dialogue with something other than "said", "replied" or "asked") they weren't so noticeable to be added to my list.

4. Passive voice - It wasn't action-packed-something-intense-every-scene, but it moved well and once I was hooked I couldn't wait to find out what happened next (or to find out if the next part was different from the movie).

5. Life lesson - This is definitely a positive, supportive story that everyone could learn from. It takes a boy who is wrongly accused, and instead of getting bitter and angry about it, he realizes he wouldn't change the experience for all the money in the world. He finds a new appreciation for life, and even better, he figures out he likes himself, something he didn't do before his predicament.

So on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the highest, I would give this book a 5. It's a good tool to use in learning all my do's and don'ts, and it's also a wonderful story of hope and overcoming adversity. You just can't beat that.