Book Club - Holes Ch. 4-6

Ola sixth grade.

Welcome to part two of our book club in the

book Holes by Lewis A car.

So, um, if you are reading along on the internet,

there's a free version that I posted in the dojo.

If you are not reading along, it's OK.

You can just listen.

So we're gonna read chapters four through six today.

Alright, dudes And dude, it's Let's get started.

Chapter four.

Well, last time we left, we learned that.

Sorry. Let me give you a recap.

So, um, in chapters one through three, we learned that

Stanley yelling his name is spelled the same backwards and

forwards. So his family has bad luck, and he got

convicted of a crime that he did not commit.

We don't know what the crime is yet, but we

know that he has to go to camp.

Green Lake and Camp Green Lake are setting is pretty

ugly. It is dry.

There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.

It is a dry lake bed, and it is a

labor camp.

So the boys have bad boys to get in trouble,

have to come and dig holes at Camp Green Lake.

Um, okay, let's get started with Chapter four, Chapter four.

Stanley felt somewhat dazed as the garden locked his handcuffs

and let him off the bus.

He'd been on the bus for over eight hours.

Be careful, the bus driver said as Stanley walked down

the steps.

Family wasn't sure if the bus driver meant for him

to be careful going down the steps or if he

was telling him to be careful at Camp Green Lake.

Uh, thanks for the ride, he said.

His mouth was dry and his throat hurt.

He stepped onto the hard, dry dirt.

There was a band of sweat around his wrists where

the handcuffs had been.

The land was barren and desolate.

He could see, for he could see a few rundown

buildings and some tents.

Further away, there was a cabin between two tall trees.

Those two trees were the only plant life that he

could see.

There wasn't even weeds.

The guard led Stanley to a small building.

A sign on front said, You are entering Camp Green

Lake Juvenile Correctional facilities, and next to it was another

sign which declared that it was a violation of Texas

penal code to bring guns, explosives, weapons drugs or alcohol

on the premises.

A Stanley read the sign.

He couldn't help but think, well, duh.

The guard led Stanley into the building, where he felt

the welcome relief off air conditioning.

A man was sitting with his feet up on the

desk, and he turned his head while Stanley in The

Guard entered but otherwise didn't move.

Even though he was inside, he wore sunglasses and a

cowboy hat.

He also had a can of soda, and the sight

of it made Stanley even more aware of his own

thirst. He waited while the bus guard gave the man

some papers to sign.

That's a lot of sunflower seeds, the bus guard said.

Stanley noticed a burlap sack filled with sunflower seeds on

the floor next to the desk.

Yeah, I quit smoking last month, said the man in

the cowboy hat.

He had a tattoo of a rattlesnake on his arm,

and as he signed his name, the snakes rattle seemed

to wiggle.

I used to smoke a pack a day.

Now I eat a sack of these every week, the

guard laughed.

There must have been a small refrigerator behind his desk

because the man in the cowboy hat produced two more

Kansas soda for a second.

Stanley hope that one might be for him, but the

man gave one to the guard and said the other

one was for the driver.

Nine hours here, nine hours back, the guard grumbled.

What a day!

Stanley thought about the long, miserable bus ride and felt

a little sorry for the guard and the bus driver.

The man in the cowboy hat spit sunflower seed shells

into the wastepaper basket.

And then he walked around the desk to Stanley.

My name is Mr Sir, he said, Whenever you speak

to me, you must call me by my name.

Is that clear?

Stanley hesitated.

Uh ah, yes, Mr Sir, he said, although he couldn't

imagine this was really the man's name.

You're not in the Girl Scouts anymore, Mr Sir said

Stanley had to remove his clothes in front of Mr

Sir, who made sure he wasn't hiding anything.

He was then given two sets of clothes and a

towel. Each set consisted of a long sleeve, orange jumpsuit

and orange T shirt and yellow socks.

Okay, Stanley wasn't sure if the Sox had been original

originally, yellow He was also given white sneakers and orange

cap and a canteen made of heavy plastic, which, unfortunately,

was empty.

The cap had a piece of cloth, soon to the

back of it for neck protection.

Stanley got dressed.

The clothes smelled like soap.

Mr Sir told him that he would wear one set

to work in and one set for relax ation.

Laundry was done every three days.

On that day, his work clothes will be washed, and

then the other set would become his work clothes, and

he would get clean clothes to wear while resting.

You're to dig one hole each day, including Saturdays and

Sundays. Each hole must be 5 ft deep and 5

ft across in every direction.

Your shovel is your measuring stick.

Breakfast is served at 4 30.

Stanley must have looked surprised because Mr Sir went on

to explain that they started early to avoid the hottest

part of the day.

No one is going to baby sit you, he said.

The longer it takes you to dig, the longer you'll

be out in the sun.

If you dig up anything interesting, you are to report

it to me or any other counselor on.

When you finish, the rest of the day is yours.

Stanley nodded to show.

He understood This is in a Girl Scout camp.

Said Mr Sir?

Yeah, the Czech Stanley's backpack and then allowed him to

keep it.

Then he led Stanley outside in the blazing heat.

Take a good look around you.

Mr Sir.

Said, What do you see?

Certainly looked out on the vast wasteland.

The air seemed thick with dirt and heat.

Not much, he said.

And then he added hastily.

Mr. Sir, Mr Sir left.

You see any guard towers?

No. How about an electric fence?

No, Mr Sir.

There's no fence at all, is there?

No, Mr Sir.

You want to run away?

Mr. Sir asked him.

Stanley looked back at him, unsure of what he meant.

If you want to run away, go ahead.

Start running.

I'm not going to stop you.

Stanley didn't know what kind of game Mr Sir was

playing. I feel you're looking at my gun.

Don't worry.

I'm not going to shoot you.

He tapped his holster.

This is for yellow spotted lizards.

I wouldn't waste to visit a bullet on you.

I'm not going to run away.

Stanley said Good thinking.

Said Mr Mr Sir.

Nobody runs away from here.

We don't need a fence.

No. Why?

Because we got the only water for 100 miles.

You want to run away?

You'll be buzzard food.

In three days, Stanley could see some kids dressed in

orange and carrying shovels, dragging themselves toward the tents.

You thirsty?

Asked Mr Sir.

Yes, Mr Mr Sir Stanley said gratefully.

Well, you better get used to it.

You're gonna be thirsty for the next 18 months.

Chapter five.

There were six large gray tents and each one had

a black letter on on it.

A, B, C, D, e or F.

The first five tents were for the campers, and the

counselors slept in F.

Stanley was assigned to D tent.

Mr. Polanski was his counselor.

My name is easy to remember.

Said Mr Polanski as he shook hands with Stanley just

outside the tent.

Three easy words, Pen Danske.

Mr. Sir returned to the office.

Mr. Polanski was younger than Mr Sir and not nearly

a scary looking.

The top of his head was shaved so close it

was almost bowled.

But his face was covered in a thick, curly black

beard. His nose was badly sunburned.

Mr Sir isn't really so bad, said Mr Polanski.

He's just been in a bad mood ever since he

quit smoking.

The person you've gotta worry about is the warden.

There's really only one rule at Camp Green Link.

Don't upset the warden.

Stanley nodded as he as if he understood.

Now I want you to know, Stanley, that I respect

you, Mr Polanski said.

And understand that you made some bad mistakes in your

life. Otherwise you wouldn't be here but everything.

Everyone makes mistakes.

You may have done some bad things, but that doesn't

make you a bad kid.

Stanley nodded.

He seemed pointless to try and tell his counselor that

he was innocent.

He figured that everyone probably said that he didn't want

Mr Pen Danske to think he was had a bad

attitude. I'm gonna help you turn your life around, said

his counselor.

But you're gonna have to help, too.

Can I count on you to help?

Yes, sir, Stanley said.

Mr Polanski said good and padded Stanley on the back.

Two boys, each carrying a shovel, were coming across the

compound. Mr Polanski called to them.

Rex. Alan, I want you to come say hello to

Stanley. He's the newest member of our team.

The boys glanced warily.

It Stanley.

They were dripping with sweat, and their faces were so

dirty that it took Stanley a moment to notice that

one kid was white and the other was black.

What happened to Barf Bag?

Said the black kid.

Lewis is still in the hospital, said Mr Polanski.

He won't be returning.

He told the boys to come shake Stanley's hand and

introduce themselves like gentlemen.

Hi, the white kid grunted.

That's Alan, said Mr Polanski.

My name's not Alan.

The boy said, It's squid and that's X ray.

Hey, said X Ray.

He smiled and shook Stanley's hand.

He wore glasses, but they were so dirty that Stanley

wondered how he could see out of them.

Mr. Polanski told Alan to go to the rec hall

and to bring other boys to meet Stanley.

Then he led them.

Inside the tent, there were seven cots, each one less

than 2 ft from the next to it, which, which

was Lewis's caught, Mr Polanski said.

Oh, barf bag slept here, said X ray kicking, one

of the beds.

Alright, Stanley, that'll be yours, said Mr Polanski.

Stanley looked at the cotton, nodded.

He wasn't particularly thrilled about sleeping in the same kat

that had been used by someone named Barf Bag.

Seven crates were stacked into piles at one side of

the tent, the open end of the crates faced outward.

Stanley put his backpack change clothes and towel in what

used to be barf bags.

Crate. It was at the bottom of the stack that

had three in it.

Squid returned with four other boys.

The first three were introduced by Mr Polanski is Jose,

Theodore and Ricky, but they called themselves Magnet Armpit in

zigzags. They all have nicknames, explained Mr Polanski.

However, I prefer to use the names their parents gave

them the names that society will recognize them by when

they return to become useful and hard working members of

society. It ain't just a nickname X Ray told Mr

Polanski he tapped the rim of his glasses.

I can see inside you, Mom, you've got a big

fat heart.

The last boy didn't have a real name, or else

he didn't have a nickname.

Both Mr Polanski, an X ray called him zero.

You know why his name zero asked Mr Polanski, because

there's nothing inside of his head.

He smiled and playfully shook zero shoulder.

Zero said nothing.

And that's Mom.

The boy said Mr Polanski smiled at him.

If it makes you feel better to call me mom

Theodore, go ahead and call me Mom.

He turned to Stanley.

If you have questions, Theodore will help you.

You've got that, Theodore.

I'm depending on you.

Theater spit a thin line of saliva between his teeth,

causing some of the other boys to complain about the

need to keep their home sanitary.

You were all new here once, said Mr Polanski.

And you all know what it feels like.

I'm counting on every one of you to help.

Stanley Stanley looked at the ground.

Mr. Polanski left the tent, and soon the other boys

began to file out as well, taking their towels and

change of clothes with them.

Stanley was relieved to be left alone, but he was

so thirsty, he felt and see if you were going

to die if he didn't get something to drink soon.

Mhm. Hey!

Ah, Theodore, he said, going after him.

Do you know where I can feel my canteen, Theodore

World and grab Stanley by his color.

My name's not Theo Door.

It's armpit, and he threw Stanley to the ground.

Stanley stared up at him, terrified.

There's a water spigot on the wall of the shower

stall. Thanks, Armpit, said Stanley as he watched the boy

turn and walk away.

He couldn't for the life of him figure out why

anyone would want to be called armpit.

In a way, it made him feel a little better

about having a sleep in a cot that had been

used by somebody called Barf Bag.

Maybe it was a term of respect.

Chapter six Stanley took a shower.

Well, if you could call it that ate dinner.

If you could call it that and went to bed

if you could call his Smelly and scratchy caught a

bed because of the scarcity of water.

Each camper was only allowed a four minute shower.

It took Stanley nearly that long to get used to

the cold water.

There was no nod for hot water.

He kept stepping into and then jumping back out of

this spray until the water shut off automatically.

He never managed to use his bar of soap, which

was just a ZX Well, because he wouldn't have had

time to rinse off all the suds dinner with some

kind of stewed meat and vegetables.

The meat was brown and the vegetables had once been

green. Everything tasted pretty much the same.

He ate it all.

And he used the slice of white bread to mop

up the juice.

Stanley had never been one to leave food on his

plate, no matter how it tasted.

What'd you do?

One of the campers asked him.

At first, Stanley didn't know what he meant.

Well, they sent you here for a reason, right?

Oh, he realized I stole a pair of sneakers.

The other boys thought that was funny.

Stanley wasn't sure why.

Maybe because their crimes were a lot worse than stealing

shoes from a store.

Or was they on somebody's feet?

Ass squid?

Um, neither Stanley answered.

They belong toe Clyde Livingston.

Nobody believed him.

Sweet Pete's and X ray.

Yeah, right.

No way, said squid.

Now has Stanley lay on his cot?

He thought it was kind of funny in a way

nobody had believed him when he said he was innocent

now when he said he stole them, nobody believed him

either. See Clyde Sweet Feet.

Livingston was a famous baseball player.

He led the American leave in stolen bases over the

last three years.

He was the only player in history to ever hit

four triples.

In one game, Stanley had a poster of him hanging

on the wall of his bedroom.

Well, he used to have a poster anyway.

He didn't know where it was at now.

It had been taken by the police and was used

as evidence of his guilt in the courtroom.

Clyde Livingston also came to court in spite of everything.

When Stanley found out The Sweet Feet was going to

be there, he was actually excited about the prospect of

meeting his hero.

Clyde Livingston testified that they were his sneakers and that

he donated them to help raise money for the homeless

shelter. He said he couldn't imagine what kind of ah

horrible person would steal from homeless Children.

That was the worst part for Stanley.

His hero thought he was a no good, dirty rotten

thief. So it's Stanley turned over in his cot.

He was afraid it was going to collapse under all

of his weight, and he barely fit in it.

When he finally managed to roll over on his stomach,

the smell was so bad that he had to turn

over again and try sleeping on his back.

The cot smelled like sour milk, though it was night,

the air was still very warm.

An armpit was snoring, two cots away.

Back at school, a bully named Derrick Dune used to

torment Stanley.

The teachers never took Stanley's complaints seriously because Derek was

so much smaller than Stanley.

Some teachers even seem to find it amusing that a

little kid like Derek would pick on someone is biggest

Stanley. On the day that Stanley was arrested, Derek had

gotten Stanley's Notebook and, after a long game of come

and get it, finally dropped in the toilet of the

boy's restroom.

By the time Stanley retrieved it, he had missed his

bus and had to walk home.

It was while he was walking home, carrying his wet

notebook with the prospect of having to copy the ruined

pages that the sneakers fell from the sky.

I was walking home and the sneakers fell from the

sky, he told the judge.

One hit me in the head and they didn't hurt,

too. We'll see.

They hadn't fallen exactly falling from the sky.

He had just walked out from under a freeway overpass

when the shoe hit him in the head.

Stanley took it is some kind of sign.

His father had been trying to figure out a way

to recycle old sneakers, and suddenly a pair of sneakers

fell on top of them, seemingly out of nowhere, like

a gift from God.

Naturally, he had no way of knowing that they belonged

to Clyde Livingston.

In fact, the shoes were anything but sweet.

Whoever it wore them had a bad case of foot

odor. Family couldn't help but think that there was some

how special something special about the shoes and that they

would somehow provide the key to his father's invention.

It was too much of a coincidence to be a

mere accident.

Stanley had felt like he was holding destinies shoes.

He ran, thinking that now he wasn't even sure why

he ran.

Maybe he was in a hurry to bring the shoes

to his father.

Or maybe he was trying to run away from his

miserable and humiliating day at school, a patrol car pulled

alongside of him.

Ah, policeman asked him why he was running, and they

took the shoes and made a call on his radio.

Shortly thereafter, Stanley was arrested.

It turned out that sneakers had been stolen from a

display at the homeless shelter that even that evening, rich

people were going to come to the shelter and pay

$100 to eat the food that the poor people ate

every day for free.

Clyde Livingston, who had once lived in the shelter when

he was younger, was going to speak and sign autographs.

His shoes would be auctioned, and it was expected that

they would sell for over $5000.

All of that money would go to help the homeless.

Because of the baseball schedule, Stanley's trial was delayed several

months. His parents couldn't afford a lawyer.

You don't need him a lawyer, his mother had said.

Just tell the truth.

Well, Stanley told the truth.

But perhaps it would have been better if he had

lied a little.

He could have said he found the shoes in the

street. No one believed that they fell from the sky

It wasn't destiny.

He realized it was just no good, dirty, rotten, pig

stealing, great great grandfather.

The judge called Stanley's crime despicable.

The shoes were valued at over $5000.

It was money that would have provided food and shelter

for the homeless.

And you stole that from them just so you could

have a souvenir, the judge said.

There was an opening at Camp Green Leak, and he

suggested that the discipline of the camp I might improve

Stanley's character.

It was either that or jail.

Stanley's parents asked if they could have some time to

find out more about Camp Green Lake, but the judge

advised them to make a quick decision.

Vacancies don't last long at Camp Greenlee.

Yeah, it is interesting.

Interesting. Interesting.

All right, boys and girls, that has been chapters 436

I wanna point out some key things that I have

in my notes here about our reading.

Okay, we finally find out what Stanley is.

Crime is.

So Stanley's crime was he was in possession of stolen

property, and those shoes belonged to a famous dude named

Clyde Livingston who was donating their proceeds to um, the

homeless shelter So on paper, it looks like Stanley's a

really bad guy.

We know that he didn't actually steal those shoes, but

can you see why they would think he was a

bad guy?

All right, everybody's got nicknames.

Bunch nicknames.

Let me pull up my notes.

So we met Armpit and we met X ray.

We know that Mr Polanski is called Mom by the

boys. We don't know, um, Stanley's nicknamed just yet, but

we do have some, um, some insight into Camp Green

Lake. We know that Camp Green Lake is led by

the warden, and they were told not to make the

warden upset.

So we know that the warden must be a mean

person or a bad person.

Um, we met zero.

I think Zeros nickname is really mean.

He's known as zero because there's nothing in his brain.

Seems awfully, awfully awful.

We know that Stanley is not really totally tough.

He was getting bullied at his school before.

And when armpit shoves him to the ground, he does

nothing. So we know that he probably feels scared.

Little week, maybe.

Um, we met Mr Sir.

Mr Sir is very, very cranky because he stopped smoking.

And so now he has todo sunflower seeds.

Um, let's see here.

Oh, and the holes.

The holes have to be 5 ft by 5 ft.

So that's almost a ZX, long as I am.

Toll. All right, boys and girls, if you're reading along

with me, we're gonna finish chapter 789 on Wednesday or

Thursday. So I will see you then, boys and girls.

Book Club - Holes Ch. 4-6

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