Independent Reading Level: (5th Grade)
Awards: Newberry Medal (1999) ( )

4.5 ( )

just a great adventure while you hear about the great great great pig stealing grandpa and the current circumstances that land him in a not-so-traditional punishment camp.

Just a fun summer read. ( )

1998 National Book Award for Young People's Literature
1999 Newbery Medal Winner

A quirky and unique book--has the feel of a summer camp story full of odd kids, except that these kids are criminals and they are digging giant holes in the desert. The slow revelation of Stanley's family history was interesting. Loved the plot, but parts of it left me confused--was the only treasure that Kissin' Kate Barlow buried Stanley's grandfather's suitcase? The author made it sound like she had been robbing banks and individuals for at least a decade, so I didn't get why the Warden would have just stopped looking for the treasure after Stanley found the suitcase. Things like that challenged my suspension of disbelief, but the story was so much fun that it didn't really matter. ( )

When Stanley Yelnats IV ends up at Camp Green Lake, a Texas reformatory, endlessly digging holes in the dried lake bed, he knows it’s all his great-great-grandfather’s fault. His great-great-grandfather was cursed, and Stanley’s bad luck is evidence of the curse. Stanley didn’t do what he was accused of, but no one believed his story. As the days go by, Stanley realizes that there may be something sinister behind the hole digging, and the warden is in it up to her neck.

This story reminds me of the movie and stage play, Annie. The adults at Camp Green Lake, and particularly the warden, are larger-than-life evil characters, and the child hero, Stanley, uses his agency to change his circumstances for the better. Readers will root for Stanley as he adjusts to his circumstances and finds his way out. ( )