The first Stanley Yelnats, the protagonist’s great grandfather, made a fortune on the stock market. All Stanley Yelnatses have retained hope even when faced with very bad luck. Stanley’s first name is his last name spelled backwards. Because of this, the protagonist Stanley is Stanley Yelnats IV. Stanley’s father and grandfather and great grandfather are all named Stanley Yelnats. Because he never has any luck his inventions never work. Stanley’s father is an inventor and although his is smart and works very hard he never has any luck. Stanley remembers a song that his father often sings to him about a wolf and a bird who wish life was easier. Although they do not believe in curses, Stanley’s family has very bad luck. The Gypsy put a curse on the great- great-grandfather and his descendants. This great-great-grandfather had stolen a pig from a Gypsy who only had one leg. Stanley and his family always seem to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and they blame their bad luck on Stanley’s no-good-dirty-rotten- pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. Stanley had been arrested on the day of the ratio lesson for a crime he did not commit. Bell, once taught ratios by comparing Stanley to a boy who weighed one third as much as he did. He is overweight and at home kids and teachers say mean things about his weight. Stanley hopes that he will make friends at Camp Green Lake. Stanley pretends that he is going to a camp like the ones rich children go to. He carries a backpack with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a box of stationery that he plans to use to write to his mother.

Stanley rides to Camp Green Lake on a bus with the bus driver and a guard with a gun. He has never been to summer camp because his family is poor, so when he is tried for a crime and the judge tells him he can either go to the camp or to jail, he chooses Camp Green Lake. Stanley Yelnats, the protagonist, thinks that Camp Green Lake will be like a summer camp. The boys are supposed to dig holes at the camp in the hopes that they will build character and abide by the law. Rattlesnakes and scorpions are horrible but nothing is as dangerous as the yellow-spotted lizard, whose bite is always fatal.īoys who have committed crimes are sent to Camp Green Lake. Rattlesnakes and scorpions hide in the shade under rocks and in holes that the campers of Camp Green Lake dig.

The hammock belongs to the Warden so the campers cannot lie in it.

The only place where there is shade is between two trees where there is a hammock. Now the lake is a dry and barren land where the temperature is usually about ninety- five degrees. It is no longer a lake because over a hundred years ago the lake dried up and the people who lived around it moved away. You may use these notes as a revision resource for your assessment tasks HolesĬamp Green Lake is described.

Holes book chapters