Holes by Louis Sachar

I've finally finished reading Holes. My daughter read it a while back, and then bugged me to read it for more than a month.

I had already seen the movie, several times, in fact, and was pleased with how closely the movie followed the book, with a few small changes that seemed necessary to make the movie flow. While I have no problem with letting the kids read the book, there's a couple scenes in the movie that my daughter, at least will find upsetting.

The conversational story-telling tone of the writing is very engaging for young readers, and the story keeps moving. The flashbacks to Stanley's earlier relatives can be a little confusing at times, according to certain younger readers, but I enjoyed the playing out of the one story with its parallels to the earlier story.

Definitely recommended for younger and older readers.