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Book Description:"If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn
him into a good boy." Such is the reigning philosophy at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention facility
where there is no lake, and there are no happy campers. In place of what used to be "the largest lake in Texas"
is now a dry, flat, sunburned wasteland, pocked with countless identical holes dug by boys improving their
character.
Stanley Yelnats, of palindromic name and ill-fated pedigree, has landed at Camp Green Lake because it seemed a
better option than jail. No matter that his conviction was all a case of mistaken identity, the Yelnats family has
become accustomed to a long history of bad luck, thanks to their "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather!"
Despite his innocence, Stanley is quickly enmeshed in the Camp Green Lake routine: rising before dawn to dig a
hole five feet deep and five feet in diameter; learning how to get along with the Lord of the Flies-styled pack of
boys in Group D; and fearing the warden, who paints her fingernails with rattlesnake venom. But when Stanley
realizes that the boys may not just be digging to build character--that in fact the warden is seeking
something specific--the plot gets as thick as the irony.
It's a strange story, but strangely compelling and lovely too. Louis Sachar uses poker-faced understatement
to create a bizarre but believable landscape--a place where Major Major Major Major of Catch-22 would feel
right at home. But while there is humor and absurdity here, there is also a deep understanding of
friendship and a searing compassion for society's underdogs.
As Stanley unknowingly begins to fulfill his destiny--the dual plots coming together to reveal that
fate has big plans in store--we can't help but cheer for the good guys, and all the Yelnats everywhere.
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