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Critics' Opinion:
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First Published:
Sep 1998, 233 pages
Paperback:
May 2000, 233 pages
Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption. Ages 10+
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 Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the warden makes the boys "build character" by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. 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. Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption.
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.
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.
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.
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
...
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