Books like Holes by Louis Sachar
Stanley Yelnats is under the curse of a long‑running family misfortune that stems from his great‑great‑grandfather’s petty theft. Due to a wrongful conviction, Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention center where boys spend each day digging five‑foot square, five‑foot deep holes. With no lake to be found and a drought‑shrouded landscape, the boys suspect the warden has hidden something beneath the earth. Stanley’s quest to uncover what lies beneath the barren ground turns into an adventure that forces him to confront the family curse, friendship, and the nature of justice.
First publish date: 1000
Genre: Children's Fiction/Children's Adventure
Authors: Louis Sachar
★
★
★
★
★
4.2 (180 community ratings)
How are these books recommended?
The books recommended for Holes by Louis Sachar are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.
Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier
for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.
Books similar to Holes (27 similar books)
In a futuristic society, a twelve‑year‑old boy named Jonas is chosen to receive the memories of a secret reservoir held by The Giver, a mentor in a seemingly utopian world.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In 1943 Copenhagen, ten‑year‑old Annemarie Johansen helps her Jewish friend Ellen Rosen escape Nazi persecution, learning courage and resilience while navigating war‑time hardships.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
When ten‑year‑old Opal arrives in Naomi, Florida, she discovers friendship, community, and the healing power of a big ugly dog named Winn‑Dixie during her first summer in town.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Treasure Island is Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure about a boy’s coming‑of‑age journey on a ship, featuring the iconic Long John Silver and shaping modern notions of pirates, treasure maps and tropical island tales.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Taggish the famed canine hero of Jack London’s classic adventure, The Call of the Wild, is uprooted from a comfortable home in California and forced into brutal sled work in the Yukon, where he must confront survival, the call of wilderness, and the pull of his wolf ancestry.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
John Boyne’s 2006 novel follows an unlikely friendship between two boys during the Holocaust, set against the backdrop of Auschwitz.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A ten‑year‑old boy in rural Virginia befriends a newcomer, and together they create the imaginary kingdom of Terabithia, a friendship that ends tragically when a storm forces an untimely death.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Ari, a fifteen‑year‑old Mexican‑American with a brother in prison, meets Dante and a friendship sparks that forces him to confront his identity, family, and sexuality.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A curious encounter between young Winnie and the Tuck family, who are cursed with eternal life, sparks a friendship that explores the costs and wonders of immortality.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In this Newbery‑winning fantasy, a young girl raised by a witch, a swamp monster, and a perfectly tiny dragon discovers and unlocks the powerful magic within herself.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In 1936 Flint, Michigan, ten‑year‑old Bud Maclean, an orphan on the run, sets out to find his missing father by following clues from a jazz band flyer.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
When an eccentric new student named Stargirl arrives at Mica Area High School, her vibrant individuality challenges the school’s strict norm of conformity, sparking a tense battle with popularity and a budding first love for classmate Leo.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
After her mother leaves, thirteen‑year‑old Sal travels with her grandparents, retracing her mother’s path while recounting her friend Phoebe’s story of loss and understanding.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, a young girl named Billie Jo faces a life‑altering accident and the relentless storms that threaten her Oklahoma farm, finding resilience through poetry and the music she can no longer play.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A story about Nick Allen, who invents a new word and becomes a local hero by spreading it across the country.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
When sisters Katie and Lynn move to a new town, their expectations of glittering change collide with the challenges of shaping their future amid the legacy of Japanese-American lives and the bonds of sisterhood.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A friendship‑driven adventure in Florida that highlights environmental protection and the plight of owls.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In Brian Selznick’s beautifully illustrated tale, two children — Rose in 1927, portrayed through pictures, and Ben in 1977, told in words — each search for a missing piece of their lives, intertwining loss, family and the mystery of the American Museum of Natural History.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A heart‑touching tale of twin sisters in Chesapeake Bay, where young Louise overcomes neglect and loss to discover her own identity.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
When a poor family faces eviction, the boy Jackson turns to his imaginary cat, Crenshaw, in a heart‑warming story that shows how friendship and resilience can keep a family together.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town is a juvenile fiction set in the World War I era, exploring friendship, family and the challenges of living in a small Texas town.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A young girl from a poor island community finds friendship and a new home in a wealthy Maine town in 1911.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A Long Way from Chicago follows city kids Joey and Mary Alice as they visit Grandma Dowdel’s small-town Illinois community over the Great Depression, discovering humor, family, and the spirited life of country towns.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A curated anthology of beloved classic tales for young readers, featuring adventures from Huckleberry Finn to Alice in Wonderland and the daring Prisoner of Zenda.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
The emotional turmoil of a teenage girl forced to keep a horrific secret keeps her isolated from friends and herself, while she obsesses about weight loss and longs for friendship with her boyfriend, Corey 'The Living Stoner', who leads a double life as a stoner and a vegetarian vegan.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A high‑school freshman’s refusal to participate in the school’s annual fundraising drive unleashes a violent backlash from bullies, exposing harsh truths about conformity, peer pressure and the brutality of adolescence.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Some Other Similar Books
August: Osage County by Tracy LettsHave a similar book in mind? Let others know!
Please login to submit books!