Book 22 in my failed attempt to complete the 100 books in 2019 challenge was Holes by Louis Sachar, a classic children’s novel with a film based on it that was a huge favourite of mine when I was younger.
I was so happy with how well the film lived up to the book, there were some small changes but nothing too major. The book deals with some pretty hefty topics, especially considering it’s a children’s novel but it does them within the context of this ‘curse’ that was placed on Stanley’s family, which gives it this whole veneer of magic and mystery. It has always tickled my nerdy inner soul how neatly this story ties together, with Stanley breaking the curse because Stanley carries Hector (Zero), the descendent of the Madame Zeroni who curcsed their family, up the mountain and gets him some water from the stream at the top of the mountain, whilst singing a song he thinks is just some stupid nursery rhyme his family has passed down. The song was in fact the song his ancestor was supposed sing while carrying Madame Zeroni up the mountain, in return for the favour she did him, so together, they break the curse. I also loved how this tied in with the stories of other ancestors of theirs, as he only knew to go up there because his grandfather said that he’d survived in the desert on Gods thumb (the shape of the mountain).
In conclusion, I really wish I had read this when I was younger; it’s so clever for a children’s novel! If you want to learn more, here’s a link to the Good Read’s plot summary.
More to follow as we conclude the last books from 2019!
Antonia Bernardin 
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