Chapter 42

Holes

Trailblazers · 4th–6th

Copywork

It occurred to him that he couldn’t remember the last time he felt happiness. It wasn’t just being sent to Camp Green Lake that had made his life miserable.

Read the passage aloud. What does the second sentence add to the first?

Discussion

Narration Tell back what happens in this chapter, from Zero finishing the hole to Stanley waking him in the night.

1. Stanley wonders if his happiness is like the warmth a person feels right before freezing to death. What does that comparison tell us about him?Character

2. Before, Stanley did not especially like himself. Now he does. What might have changed for him?Theme

3. Stanley is glad Zero left the shoes on the parked car, though that is part of why they are both at the camp. Is that a fair way to feel?Moral reasoning

4. A flower petal moves on Zero's face as he sleeps, and Stanley decides not to put it back. What mood does the author build with that small scene?Tone

5. Zero says, “That’s the last hole I will ever dig.” Stanley ends the chapter asking if he wants to dig one more. Why might the author end here?Author's choice

Make a Connection Tell about a time you felt so good that you wondered if you could trust the feeling.

Vocabulary

Crossword

1	2			3			4

5					6	7


		8

			9

Across

Across 1. Came into the mind.
Across 5. Very unhappy.
Across 6. Places where people live in towns and cities.
Across 8. A future that seems planned by fate.
Across 9. A person running away from the law.

Down

Down 2. Two things happening together by chance.
Down 3. Confused and not thinking clearly, as in a fever.
Down 4. Sparkling with little flashes of light.
Down 7. Who a person is, with name and records.

The words in the chapter

occurred It occurred to him that he couldn’t remember the last time he felt happiness
miserable that had made his life miserable
delirious He wondered if he was delirious.
destiny It had to be destiny.
coincidence It was more than a coincidence.

fugitive living the rest of his life as a fugitive
identity He would have to somehow get a new identity.
civilization follow the dirt road back to civilization
glittering the glittering night sky

Critical thinking

1. Zero says Big Thumb must have a hole filled with water. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Zero reasons about where the water comes from.

2. The boys work out how many onions they have eaten. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how life on the mountain has changed them.

3. Stanley thinks through escaping and living as a fugitive. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what it would cost him and how he would get by.