Holes is a 2 in 1 story. The main part of it tells us about a teenage overweight poor boy Stanley who was wrongly convicted of stealing stinky sneakers from his sports idol. Instead of being sent to jail, Stanley has to spend time at Camp Green Lake and dig huge holes every day for unknown purposes with other juvenile delinquents. The backstory tell us about how Stanley's family got to become so unlucky and explains why Camp Green Lake has been dry for a century. 
 When I read the description of this book, I never would've expected it to be such a page-turner. I finished it in two days time. If I was a teenager, I'd stay in bed all day until I finished it. L. Sachar managed to interweave all plot lines so masterfully - very clever! Although this book does slightly "inject" its advice, it's never preaching or forced, it just makes you understand things. 
 The characters are very vivid and their traits are exaggerated to make the reader see those people exactly the same way teenagers see adults - a little bit ludicrous. 
 I'm glad I got to read this book thanks to my Oxford Writing Young Adult Fiction course - I don't think I would have found out about it otherwise!