Books with author LouisSachar

Two years after being released from Camp Green Lake, Armpit is home in Austin, Texas, trying to turn his life around. But it?s hard when you have a record, and everyone expects the worst from you. The only person who believes in him is Ginny, his 10-year old disabled neighbor. Together, they are learning to take small steps. And he seems to be on the right path, until X-Ray, a buddy from Camp Green Lake, comes up with a get-rich-quick scheme. This leads to a chance encounter with teen pop sensation, Kaira DeLeon, and suddenly his life spins out of control, with only one thing for certain. He?ll never be the same again.In his first major novel since Holes, critically acclaimed novelist Louis Sachar uses his signature wit combined with a unique blend of adventure and deeply felt characters to explore issues of race, the nature of celebrity, the invisible connections that determine a person?s life, and what it takes to stay on course. Doing the right thing is never a wrong choice?but a small step in the right direction.From the Hardcover edition.

A darkly humorous tale of crime and punishmentStanley Yelnat's family has a history of bad luck, so he isn't too surprised when a miscarriage of justice sends him to a boys' juvenile detention center, Camp Green Lake. There is no lake - it has been dry for over a hundred years - and it's hardly a camp. As punishment, the boys must each dig a hole a day, five feet deep, five feet across, in the hard earth of the dried-up lake bed. The warden claims that this pointless labor builds character, but she is really using the boys to dig for loot buried by the Wild West outlaw Kissin' Kate Barlow. The story of Kissin' Kate, and of a curse put on Stanley's great-great-grandfather by a one-legged gypsy, weaves a narrative puzzle that tangles and untangles, until it becomes clear that the hand of fate has been at work in the lives of the characters - and their forebears - for generations.With this wonderfully inventive, compelling novel that is both serious and funny, Louis Sachar has written his best book to date. Holes is a 1998 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and the winner of the 1998 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the 1999 Boston Globe - Horn Book Award for Fiction and the 1999 Newbery Medal.

Johnny's in the basement where his parents won't bother him, sitting on top of The World's Greatest Bottle Cap Collection. He's just turned eleven and his parents have decided that it's time for him to grow up. Suddenly he has to wash the dishes and take out the garbage. And get rid of his bottle caps! His birthday presents are grown-up junk like socks and underwear and -- worst of all -- social-dancing lessons. Growing up certainly doesn't seem worth it -- until he meets Valerie Plum, who hates dancing school even more than Johnny does, but doesn't hate Johnny at all.

Marvin is amazed when he goes home with Casey Happleton one day after school and discovers that she lives in an old fire station. But that's not all that surprises him. Casey has a secret she wants to share - a crystal with super magical powers. A crystal that makes all your wishes come true. Can it be real or could she be casting her own spell on him?

Should you ever find yourself at Camp Green Lake–or somewhere similar–this is the guide for you. Stanley Yelnats (Caveman, to some of you) offers anecdotes and advice on everything from digging the perfect hole to identifying and avoiding the wildlife (scorpions, tarantulas, rattlesnakes, yellow-spotted lizards, Mr. Sir) to help make your stay a more pleasant one.

Today is Thursday. Today is 'hole' day. So, naturally, everyone is wearing their 'holiest' clothes. Even the class teacher, Mrs North . . . But she is soon to find out from Principal McCabe that a surprise visitor is coming to the school. In fact, the President of the United States is on his way. And there's no time to change! What questions will Marvin get to ask the President? And, with all the television cameras pointed, will he solve his biggest maths problem to date? This book is full of surprises but, yet again, Louis Sachar delivers a thoughtful and vibrantly funny story in this, the fifth of the series.