Small Steps

This book is a well-written discussion about the different ways racism and ableism can manifest, how difficult it is for ex-cons/delinquents to find work and be treated fairly after they get out of prison (especially for anyone who isn't white), and the commodification of children in the entertainment business. This should be a lot to tackle in one book, but Louis Sachar really pulls it off in his sequel to "Holes". Although I would recommend this book for teens (at the youngest) rather than the middle-grade demographic of its predecessor, it's a great entryway into the concept of taking baby steps one day at a time when trying to get to a good place in this chaotic, twisted up life.

a couple of years ago, i read a book whose plot involved the protagonist going underground and finding a colony of humans living with giant insects. it sounded really stupid, but i was at camp with nothing to read, and when i did read the book, i found it surprisingly plausible. and that's the mark of a good author - an author who can make you believe anything. i was equally dubious with Small Steps. I mean, boy goes to concert, meets rockstar, they get romatically involved, and he ends up saving her life? please. but it all made sense. not only that, it was moving, and showed some really good character developement. my favorite character was Ginny, Armpit's neighbor who has cerebral palsey. she's younger than Armpit, about nine or ten i guess, and they have some very cute conversations. and kaira was just the right mixture of rather spoiled star and sympathetic character. the book is a lot deeper than holes, and it doesn't have holes' winning random wierdness. it's more of a book for kids to relate to, rather than just laugh at - which is not to say that Small Steps doesn't have plenty of humour: "You should be a lawyer," said Ginny. "A lawyer," said X-ray as he mulled it over. "Now you're talkin'. I'm good at the art of verbal persuasion." "Otherwise known as BS," said Armpit.(p.252) The point is, the only thing in common between Holes and its sequal is two characters, and that they're both really great books. Small Steps stands alone, as a great YA novel.

Digging holes for a lost treasure in a juvenile detention facility was the premise for Louis Sachar's first novel, HOLES (winner of 13 awards). He continues the saga with two of the lesser developed protagonists in HOLES, Armpit and X-ray enjoying their new found freedom. Jerome aka Armpit is still digging holes, this time earning his keep. We find him at a time where he has managed to save around $700 and is going to night school . X-ray, who was the ring leader in HOLES, finds him and has great ideas to increase Armpit's wealth. His scheme is to buy tickets for trendy Kaira de Leon's pop star concert and resell them at double or triple their initial price. Armpit, an African-American, is friends with a 10 year old little white girl, Ginny, the girl next door who has cerebral palsy. Armpit decides to treat her to the concert. Unfortunately, he is caught with counterfeit tickets. A racist scuffle ensues but Armpit and Ginny are saved by Kaira de Leon, who delights them with the best seats in the house. Lonely Kaira de Leon falls in love with Armpit but her manager, Jerome Paisley has other plans for her. Are Kaira de Leon and Armpit going to have a happy ever after affair or will he be wise and take life with SMALL STEPS? Will Armpit and X-ray profit from their scheme? Louis Sachar's characters are true to life. The dialogue and the pace of the story is fast and quirky. A page turner, SMALL STEPS could be read in one sitting. SMALL STEPS surpasses HOLES in action, sensibility and suspense, if that is possible. Louis Sachar has a propensity for the underprivileged. He makes you cry, he makes you laugh and cheer out loud. SMALL STEPS does not have to be read after HOLES. It's beauty is that it stands proudly by itself. Let the awards rain on SMALL STEPS.... Children 7 and up will lap it up. Lily Azerad-Goldman, Artist and Reviewer for Bookpleasures

My 8th grade students all read Holes in 6th grade. Now they absolutely LOVE Small Steps! Stanley is not in the sequel, but Armpit and Zero get into all kinds of trouble as they try to make mature decisions. Several themes: peer pressure, doing the "right" thing, racism, disabilities, and taking small steps toward the future instead of falling back. This is a compelling book as students get older and start making more important decisions in tehir lives.

This book, the follow-up to Sachar's blockbuster Holes, is a major departure from the first novel. It's not exactly a sequel, but rather a new story about two of the minor characters from the earlier book. (Folks holping to find out what happened to Stanley or Zero will be disappointed -- they're not even mentioned in this book, except for Armpit referencing that "Sploosh" was invented by the father of someone he was at Camp Green Lake with). Set two years after the earlier novel, Armpit is now trying to graduate from High School, working and staying on the straight and narrow. Until his old buddy X-Ray shows up with a way to make him some real money... just some old-fashioned ticket scalping. Like I said, this is VERY different from Holes. That book was part mystery, part generational novel, even part western. This is more of a straightforward story -- no mystery, a hint of crime drama. While Holes dealt with some heavy issues, such as race relations and juvenile detention, this book goes even further, dealing with drug issues, cerebral palsy and even (briefly) sex. None of this is intended as a criticism, but it is important that parents getting this book for their children realize how much more mature this book is than the earlier novel. That said, this is a really strong book. Armpit and X-Ray were mostly placeholder characters in the first book. Here they're fleshed out very well and joined by other strong characters. You find out why they were in jail in the first place (and unlike Stanley in the first book, they were not falsely accused), and you see that good people can do stupid things sometimes. The ending is more bittersweet than Holes as well, but it leaves you with a real sense of hope at the same time. It's hard to believe this is the same Louis Sachar who once gave us Sideways Stories From Wayside School, and while at times he tries a little too hard to be "relevant," he's really emerging as a strong, intelligent writer, one who gives young readers a lot more to think about than most writers out there. I'll be anxious to see what he gives us next.

Reader's Workshop Paragraph-Michael Brailovsky Small Steps by Louis Sachar, author of Holes is a book about a boy named Armpit. Armpit was one of the campers from Camp Green Lake, the camp in which Stanley Yelnats, from Holes went for stealing a pair of shoes. Armpit, the main character in this book was one of Stanley's roommates at the camp, and is now back at home and working for a landscaping company. One day, his friend X-Ray from Camp Green Lake, drives up to him and asks him if he would like to make some money by buying tickets to a concert for sixty dollars and then trying to sell them for almost three times as much. Armpit agrees, but already regrets his choice, when he had almost made one thousand dollars in two months. Armpit accidentally meets Kaira DeLeon, the singer to whose concert they purchased tickets to, and falls in love with her. As they spend time together, Armpit makes the wrong choices over and over again. I think this is a great leisure book for teens ages 12- 15 because the book is about subjects that teens are interested in and have no trouble understanding. The story is very attractive because there is always something exciting going on and every chapter that you finish, leaves on a cliffhanger. I would compare this book to Holes by Louis Sachar because in the way that it is written in, it describes every element of the story very well. Go read it!