Characters
Who is known for kissing men before she kills them?
What's the first thing we discover about the setting?
There is no lake at Camp Green Lake, and it's not green.
Why is the book called Holes?
Bad boys are sent to CGL to dig holes.
What deal does Stanley make with Zero?
Stanley teaches Zero to read and Zero digs Stanley's holes.
What conflict is Kissin' Kate and Sam faced with?
Someone sees them kiss which was illegal 100 years ago, so the sheriff plans to hang Sam the Onion Man.
What is interesting about Stanley's name?
It's a palindrome. Stanley is Yelnats backwards.
What is important to know about yellow spotted lizards?
They can kill you.
How is Stanley's bad luck explained?
His no good dirty rotten pig stealing great-great grandfather inflicted a curse on the family.
What is sploosh?
Kate Barlow's spiced peaches.
What is the main conflict in the present?
Stanley is innocent but accused of stealing sneakers and therefore sent to Camp Green Lake.
Who is Elya Yelnats?
Stanley's no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather.
Which state does this story take place?
Texas
Why is Stanley at Camp Green Lake?
A punishment for stealing shoes.
Why is it important to know that the people of Green Lake would visit Sam the Onion Man for remedies?
It foreshadows how the onions heal and also deter the yellow-spotted lizards from biting and killing Stanley and Zero.
What is Elya's main conflict?
He wants to marry Myra Menke but he doesn't have a pig to offer her father.
Who placed a curse on the Yelnats family?
What other species inhabit camp green lake besides yellow-spotted lizards?
Scoripions and rattlesnakes?
How did Elya end up in America?
He left on a ship as a deckhand after he realized Myra's head was as empty as a flower pot and he no longer wanted to marry her.
How did Zero and Stanley run away and end up on God's Thumb?
Zero hit Mr. Pendanski with a shovel and ran away after ridiculing Zero and telling them "no more reading lessons." Later, Stanley tried to steal the car in search of Zero, but he ended up driving into a hole and then running away. He found Zero and climbed the mountain with Zero on his back.
How is the Yelnats curse resolved?
Stanley carries Zero up the mountain, sings to him, and makes him drink from the water.
What do the boys in Camp D call Mr. Pendanski?
Mom
Why is Mr. Sir not worried that any boys will run away?
It is stated that there is no water for miles, and the boys would be buzzard food by the next day.
How does Katherine become Kissin' Kate Barlow?
Katherine became Kissin' Kate Barlow after the sheriff planned to hang Sam and Trout Walker shot and killed him. She shot the sheriff and kissed him as he had asked her to do. This became her trademark as an outlaw.
How does the whole story come to a close? What happens to Zero, Stanley the III, The Warden and the others, and Stanley the IV?
Zero ends up reuniting with his mother; Stanley III uses sploosh in an invention for foot odor where Sweet Feet is the sponsor; The Warden and the others go to jail; Stanley gained confidence, a best friend, broke the curse, and found his family's missing treasure.
After the curse is broken, what good fortune comes to Stanley IV and III?
They find the treasure Kate Barlow buried and the sploosh becomes the ingredient for the smelly sneakers in Stanley III's invention.