Small steps for getting Armpit's life back on track...and small lessons in stereotypes

books:


	• Small Steps (Readers Circle) Louis Sachar Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2008 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 98 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Small Steps after Holes

Sachar is a good writer, regardless of the style or level of writing (geared to Young Adults as the 10 to 15-year-old tweeners that libraries aim his books toward are known).

He succeeds (at least as well as I can tell being a 48-year-old father of three kids who went through that stage a few years back) at hitting the sweet spot of that market with smart, funny, insightful, writing that makes good reading even for adults.

This is a followup to his smash title Holes, which I also read and reviewed and became a very good Hollywood movie (Holes (Widescreen Edition) starring Shia Lebouf, Jon Voight, and Sigourney Weaver. In Small Steps, Armpit and X-Ray, two of the delinquents who have graduated from Camp Green Lake (neither green, nor a lake, the boys were punished and "reformed" by digging holes day after day looking for buried treasure; read the book or see the movie) and the legal system and trying to return to law-abiding society. Armpit has grown into a strong, handsome African-American man of 17, working as a landscaper while taking summer classes to catch up and and be able to graduate from high school. While he has served his legal penalty, he still faces scrutiny from his parents, uncertainty from his classmates, and fear from the society around him; Sachar frankly talks about the casual racism Armpit (real and preferred name Theodore) faces on a regular basis. Theodore is taking the small steps of the title toward his life goals, while best friends with his duplex neighbor Ginny, a 10-year-old white girl who has cerebral palsy.

When X-Ray approaches Theodore with a scheme to make money buying and scalping tickets to the local concert of the latest sultry teenage singer, Theodore's small steps start veering off the track, and threaten to derail his plans. While Sachar is clear that Theodore makes some bad choices, he is also sympathetic toward the pressures he faces.

Theodore convinces X-Ray to save the last two tickets so that he and Ginny can go to the concert, a fun trip that goes awry when this odd couple is accused of having counterfeit tickets. This sequence of events drives the story to its climax, and Sachar does a good job of bringing the book to an exciting, believable, and (yes!) happy ending.

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Braden W. Review of Small Steps by Louis Sachar, March 18, 2008.

Small Steps is a book by Louis Sachar. It is a sequel to his previous book Holes, telling the lives of armpit and X-Ray after "Camp Greenlake." Armpit is trying to take small steps in order to get his life on straight. The two of them are attending a high school in the slums of Houston. When X-Ray tries to convince Armpit to join him in a get-rich-quick scheme Armpit is reluctant. Once X-Ray suggests ticket scalping, Armpit finally gives in and gets into a real mess. It just so happens that the tickets are fake and Armpit is caught by the police. Armpit's eternal conflict is keeping his life on straight and out of the hands of the law. Eventually people (Including a celebrity) start to realize he is a good person that he didn't do anything wrong. It is hard not to root for Armpit in this story of struggle after "Camp Greenlake."

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Couldn't Put it Down!

This book was amazingly great. It was completely different from Holes. In my opinion I thought it was way better. When I started this book I thought it would be good just like Holes. I was way wrong. It was so much better. I started reading it and I just couldn't put it down. I'm 13 and I loved this book. I think it's a great book for anyone.

Small Steps - Louis Sachar

Great book - well worth reading. Written for kids, but adults will enjoy it too. A warning to parents that some mild adult language is used. The book will be most enjoyed if Sachar's earlier work, Holes, is read first.

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Small steps for getting Armpit's life back on track...and small lessons in stereotypes

It's a year since I read 'Holes' so the characters Armpit and X-ray felt like they were almost new to me again. Although the characters are in both books and there are references to Camp Green Lake, you don't really lose anything from not having read 'Holes'.
That said, it's nice to see what happens when the boys are back in society, and how apt their jobs are!! :)

Running alongside the story about Armpit and X-ray is another, the day to day life of pop star Kaira DeLeon. She's as confined by her lifestyle and entourage as the boys were when they were back in Camp Green Lake, and is desperate for a little teenage normality.

Ginny is a great character, she is ten, has cerebral palsy and lives next door to Armpit. Stereotypes in general are given a gentle bashing in this book, which is a good thing and makes you question your own unintentional prejudices or behaviour.

I'm not the target audience for 'Small Steps' but still found it enjoyable.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Two years after being released from Camp Green Lake, Armpit is home in Austin, Texas, trying to turn his life around. But it?s hard when you have a record, and everyone expects the worst from you. The only person who believes in him is Ginny, his 10-year old disabled neighbor. Together, they are learning to take small steps. And he seems to be on the right path, until X-Ray, a buddy from Camp Green Lake, comes up with a get-rich-quick scheme. This leads to a chance encounter with teen pop sensation, Kaira DeLeon, and suddenly his life spins out of control, with only one thing for certain. He?ll never be the same again.

In his first major novel since Holes, critically acclaimed novelist Louis Sachar uses his signature wit combined with a unique blend of adventure and deeply felt characters to explore issues of race, the nature of celebrity, the invisible connections that determine a person?s life, and what it takes to stay on course. Doing the right thing is never a wrong choice?but a small step in the right direction.

From the Hardcover edition.

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