Louis Sachar Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR: Debbie
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| Review Summary |
Stanely Yelnats IV has had a run of bad luck lately. Well, actually, his whole life has been a run of bad luck, but recently his luck has been really bad. I mean, how many people get hit with some sneakers falling out of the sky and are convicted of stealing them? How was Stanley supposed to know that the sneakers belonged to a famous baseball player? Of course, no one believes him and he has the choice of going to jail or to Camp Green Lake. Stanley has always wanted to go away to camp like other kids do, so he leaps at the chance to go to Camp Green Lake. But when Stanley arrives, he discovers that there is no lake at Camp Green Lake - there are just a bunch of holes.
It doesn't take Stanley long to figure out that there is more to Camp Green Lake than meets the eye. At first it is all Stanley can do to dig his 5 x 5 foot hole everyday and deal with the bad-tempered, sunflower-seed-spitting Mr. Sir, the seemingly kind-hearted Mr. "Mom" Pendanski, the rattlesnake-venom fingernail polish of the Warden, the bizarre heirarchy of the boys led by X-Ray, and a host of other characters including Zero, whom everyone believes is nothing. As Stanley spends time at Camp Green Lake, he learns more and more about himself and discovers that the camp really was successful in building his character...
I loved this book. It was a fast, fun read with quirky characters and four different stories tied together into one. The main story is the one of Stanley Yelnats IV and his experiences at camp, but we also follow the story of Stanley Yelnats I who was robbed in the middle of the desert and survived by using "God's thumb", there is Stanley's "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather" who got him into this mess in the first place, and the sad story of Kissin' Kate Barlow, the notorious outlaw who robbed Stanley Yelnats I. These stories are creatively woven together and Sachar adds lots of humor, sometimes dark humor, but the stories are quite funny all the same.
Debbie, Resident Scholar
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%
Tone of book
- very upbeat
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- fantasy story on current Earth
Coming of age
Yes
Youngster becomes
- an adult (general)
Parody
Yes
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Kid's book (ages 7-14)
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- thief/con artist
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an average amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
Terrain
- Desert
Earth setting:
- current (early 21st century)
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue?
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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