Holes Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
Holes follows Stanley Yelnats IV, an unlucky boy wrongly convicted of stealing a pair of sneakers and sent to Camp Green Lake, a desert detention camp where boys dig a hole every day. He discovers the Warden is searching for something buried, and his friendship with a boy called Zero breaks a curse on his family more than a century old.
The story weaves together three timelines that all connect at the end.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Stanley Yelnats IV | Unlucky, good-hearted boy |
| Zero (Hector Zeroni) | Quiet boy at the camp |
| The Warden | Woman who runs the camp |
| Mr. Sir | Harsh camp counselor |
| Mr. Pendanski | Counselor who mocks Zero |
| Kissin' Kate Barlow | Teacher turned outlaw |
| Madame Zeroni | Fortune teller from Latvia |
| Elya Yelnats | Stanley's great-great-grandfather |
Why is Stanley sent to the camp?
Stanley's family is famous for bad luck, which they blame on his no-good great-great-grandfather. When a pair of sneakers donated by a baseball star falls from the sky onto Stanley, he is arrested for theft and given a choice of jail or camp. Camp Green Lake is a dry lakebed with no lake, where each boy must dig a hole five feet deep and wide every day to build character.
↑ Back to the topWhat is the family curse?
Long ago in Latvia, Elya Yelnats was helped by Madame Zeroni and promised to carry her up a mountain afterward. He forgot and sailed to America, and she cursed his family. In another story, a century ago, Green Lake was a real lake where the teacher Katherine Barlow fell in love with Sam, an onion seller. Because he was Black, townspeople killed him, and Kate became the outlaw Kissin' Kate Barlow. She robbed Stanley's great-grandfather and buried his fortune.
↑ Back to the topHow do Stanley and Zero become friends?
Stanley finds a gold tube with the initials KB and realizes the Warden is searching for Kate's treasure. He teaches Zero to read in exchange for help digging. When Mr. Pendanski humiliates Zero, Zero hits him with a shovel and runs into the desert. Stanley follows.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens on the mountain?
Stanley finds Zero sheltering under an upturned boat, living on old peach preserves, and now very sick. Stanley carries him up a thumb-shaped mountain, where they find water and Sam's old onion field. Without knowing it, Stanley, a Yelnats, has carried a Zeroni up a mountain, breaking the curse.
↑ Back to the topHow does Holes end?
Back at camp, they dig at a spot Stanley suspects and pull up a suitcase, just as the Warden arrives, surrounded by deadly lizards that do not touch them because they ate onions. Stanley's lawyer arrives with the attorney general, and the suitcase turns out to bear the name Stanley Yelnats. The camp is closed. Zero, who had actually taken the sneakers, uses his share of the treasure to find his mother. Stanley's father invents a cure for foot odor, and for the first time in over a hundred years, rain falls on Green Lake.
↑ Back to the topMore about Holes
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.