While you have been busy, our Whyville book club has started up with its first book, Holes, by Louis Sachar.

What a terrific book! All of our members loved the book! So, if you haven't read it yet and are thinking that maybe you would like to, you should stop reading this article now and go get yourself a copy. I wouldn't want to ruin the story for you.

Well, I must say that I thought I knew how this book would go when I read the jacket cover, but I will admit that what I thought this book was about ended up being only a small part of the book.

Louis Sachar had me not wanting to put this book down from the moment I opened to the first page. In spite of Stanley's no-good-dirty-rotten pig-stealing great-great-grandfather, Stanley turns out to be a far better man, and without even realizing it, fixes the curse placed upon his family generations before. Way to go, Stanley!

My favorite character was not Stanley, though, but Zero. He was the strong, silent type, and despite his situation, knew what the right thing to do was. Not surprisingly, he ends up being the descendent of the woman who put the curse on Stanley's no-good-dirty-rotten pig-stealing great-great-grandfather.

Louis Sachar did a nice job of writing this story and didn't make it too confusing with the back and forwards in time that he used to fill the reader in with the necessary history of Stanley's no-good-dirty-rotten pig-stealing great-great-grandfather. Great book!

Here are some of the opinions of our members...

Pinkcloud: It's terrific -- slightly creepy, slightly funny, with just enough mystery to make it perfect. Holes was a simply wonderful book.

fllrb: I LOVE THAT BOOK! I think it's really cool how there are so many storylines. Then at the end it all falls into place, just like a puzzle. Just my thoughts!

Q: Who was your favourite character?
Karra: Stanley was my favorite character I guess.
Q: What was your favourite part?
Karra: I liked the ending.
Q: Is there anything about the book that you would change?
Karra: No, I don't think I would have changed anything about it. There are a few things I forgot about the book, but from what I remember, I wouldn't change it.
Q: Which character did you hate the most?
Karra: The lady who ran the camp. I can't remember her name, though...

Well, if you're thinking about joining our book club, you might be interested in checking out our next book.

The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkein.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of a "little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves." He is, like most of his kind, well-off, well-fed, and best pleased when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a meal to look forward to.

Certainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by one morning, "looking for someone to share in an adventure," Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck, however; soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on the hobbit's doorstep in search of a burglar, and before he can even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out his door and into a dangerous adventure.

Happy Reading,

Riven