Growing up, I never went to summer camp. Being away from home in a boarding school made me long for my room, its bookshelves, my cats, dog and my bed that was right next to a window. So summer camps were never a part of my holiday plans; I spent enough time away from home anyway.
It always amuses me a little when in the months of April and May I read in the newspapers about the many summer camps that have courses that sound so exciting. I wonder if children emerge as some kind of super versions of themselves after these camps. So this week I have decided to introduce you to Stanley Yelnats, a boy who went to a camp that claimed to build character of the young boys who attended it.
Holes by Louis Sachar is about how Stanley was sent to Camp Green Lake. Stanley was sent to this camp because he was accused of stealing the shoes of a very famous sportsman. A series of many strange, funny and unfortunate events led to Stanley finding himself in possession of these shoes. Not enough that he was called a thief, he was seen as an especially bad one because these shoes were donated to a celebrity auction for charity by this sportsman. Stanley makes no attempt to prove that he is innocent because he believes that he and his family are forever cursed because of his “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather”. Indeed, it really does seem to be true. No one in his family seems to have had any luck after the infamous pig stealing incident.
When he arrives in Camp Green Lake, all he sees is a vast dried up lake. That is when it is proved that Stanley is cursed. Under the strict supervision of the camp supervisor, who is under strict supervision by the camp director, boys of all ages dig holes in the lakebeds. They dig all day with one water and food break. To make things worse, someone has taken interest in making Stanley’s life difficult.
In the months that go by, digging holes under a blazing sun, Stanley finds that he has many questions he wants answers for. Why is the lake dry and dead? What is the real reason behind the warden making them dig holes? Who is Kissing Kate Barlow? Is his life in grave danger? Could there be a chance of his curse being lifted? There is a part where Stanley writes to his parents telling them just how happy he is in Camp Green Lake. His parents never know that it’s not true. It reminded me of my boarding school days. Our letters too were censored. We always wrote about what a wonderful time we were having.
I chanced upon this book in a classroom in the school I teach in. It is a novel Class 7 students study as part of their English course. I wonder how much they identified with Stanley.
(Yasmine Claire teaches high school students and attempts to write twisted-inside-out fairy tales. Write in to claireyasmine@gmail.com)