Customer Reviews

Small Steps (Readers Circle)

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

Put yourself in Louis Sachar's shoes. You've been writing children's books for a number of years now and one day divine inspiration hits you and you come up with what could easily be called the greatest children's book of the last 25 years, "Holes". It sweeps the nation, gets a coveted Newbery Award, and is subsequently on every required reading list in the USA from now until doomsday. Now it's time to write a sequel. You do so and it falls into the lap of an average everyday children's librarian and sometime reviewer. And unbeknownst to you, Louis Sachar, you have just placed this perfectly nice graduate of an MLIS program in a bit of a pickle. Ideally, I want to be the kind of person who judges every title at hand on a one-on-one basis. I want to pretend that I've never read anything else by this author and that the book I am reading is its own separate entity. But with a book that has even the slightest connection to "Holes", this charade becomes almost impossible. "Holes" was a force of nature in and of itself, and "Small Steps", while a perfectly nice book, cannot even be breathed in the same breath as its predecessor. My advice? Give "Small Steps" to someone who hasn't read "Holes" yet.

His name is Armpit. Okay, that's not exactly true. His name is Theodore but back at Camp Green Lake he acquired his current nickname. Now he's out, finishing high school, and he has a pretty great job doing landscape work after school. That is, until X-Ray shows up. Another former Camp Green Lake inmate, X-Ray has a ticket scalping scheme that he's sure will earn beaucoup de bucks for the both of them. That is, if Armpit's willing to put up the cash. Aiding in this wacky investment, our hero is soon engaged in a series of events that culminate with him befriending/dating Kaira DeLeon. Kaira, for the record, is the greatest pop star alive, but by growing close to her Armpit is having a hard time putting his other troubles behind him. And when Kaira's unscrupulous manager wants to use Armpit's record to his advantage, the kid may be headed for deep trouble indeed.

It is a little hard to figure out why Armpit, who comes off as such a sweetie here, ever got sent to Camp Green Lake in the first place. There are some references a popcorn incident, but they're brief. The advantage to this, though, is that Sachar's brevity on the subject certainly makes it clear that Armpit is just an average joe caught up in a racist system. And Mr. Sachar's willingness to talk about race in this manner comes across as immensely refreshing, I have to say. So many children's authors pussyfoot around the issue, maybe bringing it up if the book is set in the past. Sachar, on the other hand, is willing to point out that if a large black teen is walking down the street, there are going to be people who cross to the other side. That said, he did it better in "Holes". "Holes", showed racism, both subtle and blatant. It managed to tie in the entire American system of racism from slavery times onward. "Small Steps", falls far more on the blatant side of the equation. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. It just means the story feels less whole.

Aside from the topic of racism, this is also a book willing to make reference to the current situation in Iraq. Moreover, it makes more than one sly reference to the most common bit of racist currency available today: Anti-Muslim feeling. When Armpit and X-Ray feel that the cops are on to their ticket scheme, they manage to try to shine that attention away from themselves and onto a non-existent character named Habib. Good old turban wearing, ticket scalping Habib. The unspoken thought is that if they name an imaginary Muslim to be the real scalper, maybe the cops will feel that there are bigger fish to fry somewhere. It doesn't work, but it manages to say loads about how X-Ray and Armpit's minds work.

Still, there were structural problems with the book. It was very odd how Sachar kept tossing the point of view hither and thither throughout the text with very little rhyme or reason. One minute we're in Armpit's head, another minute we're following Kaira, and another we are in the bedroom of the girl Armpit likes at school. And I hope you like figures, by the way. This book has a whole heaping helpful of economics in it that may cause the average set of eyeballs to glaze over for a moment or two. Finally, the bad guy's scheme in this book is a teensy bit flawed. Kaira's manager intends to have his star charge hurt. The only problem is, he himself hired her bodyguard. So when that guard shows up, it shouldn't be as great a surprise to the manager as the book makes it out to be. Altogether, these are small qualms, but the book had the potential to feel so much tighter and whole. They rankle with the reading.

In the end I kind of felt like, "Small Steps", was trying to be more of a teen read than "Holes" ever was. Always taking into account that the "Holes" readership grerw older, this makes a fair amount of sense. And teen-like elements, such as references to sex, are nice and straightforward but I suspect the real readership will still turn out to be "Holes" lovers of the younger stripe. For the most part, "Small Steps" is able to find its footing and doesn't slip up too often. It also has Sachar's trademark readability quotient, which doesn't hurt things any. From sentence one the book is go go go. So while I find that I cannot block the memory of "Holes" completely from my mind, I at least can give "Small Steps" a wary thumbs up. It could be better, but it's pretty darn sweet as it is.

Louis Sachar the award-winning author of over twenty fiction and educational books for children including the Marvin Redpost and Wayside School series. Holes, won the prestigious National Book Award, the Newbery Medal, sold 6 million copies, and was successfully translated to film. Now we finally learn what life is like AFTER CAMP GREEN LAKE. "Small Steps" is a follow-up to Holes, it features ARMPIT aka Theodore Johnson, still digging holes, but now as a landscaper, trying to finish up high school. Armpit's new life is turned upside when X-Ray shows up with a ticket scalping scheme involving teen pop star, Kaira DeLeon. Armpit, who has been trying to take his own "small steps" to the straight and narrow, finds himself once again running afoul of the law.
Eight years after Sachar's breakout hit with Holes, he needs to take big steps to fill "sweet-feet's" proverbal shoes. Does Sachar manage it? Yes, mostly, "Small Steps" is a good book, but not a great one. Sachar's voice is just as clear, and the situations are more realistic. He is most successful with relationships, like Armpit and Ginny a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy whose family lives on the other side of his family's East Austin duplex. The publisher should have resisted the temptation to call "Small Steps" a "companion to Holes" to reduce heavy expectations... especially since the obvious follow-up would be the story of Stanley, Zero and their newfound millions, instead of focusing on one of Camp Green Lake's less appealing characters.

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It's two years later, but Theodore Johnson (aka Armpit) still spends his time. The difference now is that he's getting paid for it, and this position with a landscaping company is one of the "small steps" Armpit is trying to take in order to change his life for the better.

While Armpit does all he can to avoid trouble, it inevitably finds him in the form of his former Camp Green Lake buddy X-Ray, who has come up with a moneymaking scheme involving concert tickets to see teen sensation Kaira Deleon. Not suprisingly, things don't turn out the way Armpit expects, and his whole life is thrown into turmoil.

Armpit makes for a sympathetic hero, and Sachar does a terrific job of teaching the moral lessons involved with his "small steps," without ever sounding preachy. While Stanley and Zero would seem more obvious candidates for a second novel, it turns out that an unexplored character like Armpit actually has a lot to reveal.

The story moves quickly, and this will likely be a one-sitting read for many people. It's difficult to match a classic like Holes, but this is a more-than-worthy followup to such a great novel. It won't match the first, but I believe that fans of Holes will enjoy this read.

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!

It's no exaggeration to say that SMALL STEPS is one of the most eagerly awaited sequels in recent memory. It's taken Louis Sachar eight years to follow up his Newbery Award-winning novel HOLES, which was also made into a popular feature film. To call SMALL STEPS a sequel, though, is not entirely true; instead, the book is more of a companion to Sachar's earlier novel, following some of the same characters but written in a fundamentally different style.

Theodore "Armpit" Johnson is back in the real world after finally being released from Camp Green Lake, the horrific juvenile detention center that was the setting for HOLES. Living in Austin, Texas, Armpit is determined to finish school while using his shoveling skills in a good job for a landscaping firm. He's learning a lot, saving some money, and taking small steps toward becoming a respected member of society again.

Armpit's life is going pretty smoothly until X-Ray, another former Green Lake detainee, comes on the scene with a get-rich-quick scheme. Pop singer Kaira DeLeon is coming to town, and her show is sure to sell out. X-Ray's plan is to buy twelve tickets and resell them to the highest bidders. He needs Armpit's help (and his bank account) to buy the tickets, and he promises to share the wealth with Armpit.

Not surprisingly, the plan backfires on all cylinders, as Armpit learns lessons about economics, ethics and the law. About the only good thing that comes out of the plan is that Armpit and his young neighbor Ginny (who has cerebral palsy) actually get to meet Kaira DeLeon. Armpit and Kaira have instant chemistry --- Armpit is attracted to Kaira's beauty and intelligence, and Kaira is pleasantly surprised that Armpit likes her for herself. But will Kaira feel the same when she finds out about Armpit's ticket scalping fiasco?

Readers who are expecting SMALL STEPS to contain more of the story of Stanley Yelnats and Zero, the protagonists of HOLES, may be disappointed. Those who are anticipating the tall-tale, almost mythic quality of HOLES's storytelling may also take some time to adjust to the more straightforward, traditional storyline of SMALL STEPS.

Nevertheless, Sachar does manage to elicit sympathy and interest in two of HOLES's more minor characters with this follow-up tale. The story, particularly the doomed ticket-scalping plot, is also well constructed, even though the final violent scenes involving Kaira's unscrupulous manager/stepfather are somewhat over the top. Sachar does include plenty of humor and even some subtle commentary about race and class (both Armpit and Kaira are African American). In short, readers will enjoy SMALL STEPS if they are able to view it as a novel in its own right, and not as a repeat performance of Sachar's beloved HOLES.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

Small Steps by Louis Sachar was a very well written companion book to Holes. The plot of this book was not as interesting as Holes, but I still enjoyed it a lot. The author wrote this book in the omniscient third person, because the narrator is all-knowing. In this book, Armpit is the protagonist. Jerome Paisley, also known as El Genius, was the antagonist. Sachar uses indirect characterization to show the personalities of the characters in this story. For example, you could tell that Armpit is caring without the narrator saying it, because he willingly takes time out of his schedule each day to spend time with Ginny, a ten-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. This book did not have very much imagery in it, but it didn't really matter, because the story kept me interested. Armpit has many external conflicts, like with Detective Newberg to keep her from finding out he and X-Ray were ticket-scalping, with El Genius to keep him from murdering Kaira, and with Kaira when she stops talking to him. One theme of this book that I noticed was that friendships can consist of people who are very different and that you wouldn't expect to be friends. For example, Kaira DeLeon, a famous singer with a lot of money, and Armpit, a lower middle-class teen from east Austin, became very close friends in this book. Another theme was that the bad guy always gets caught, like how Jerome got caught trying to murder Kaira and frame Armpit. Small Steps may appeal to any teen or pre-teen, because Armpit, the main character, is a teenager and some of it takes place in a high school setting. Readers of those ages could probably relate the best. This book was a good quick read and was easy to comprehend, so I am sure many people, no matter what their reading preferences, would enjoy it. I would especially recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed reading any other of Louis Sachar's books or if you like his style of writing.

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.

When I picked up Small Steps, I was hoping for a sequel to Holes. I wanted nothing more than to step back into Stanley's story, but what I found instead was something entirely different.

This book is a follow-up to Holes only in the sense it takes place in the sasme "world." The story isn't about Stanley, and Zero isn't even in it. Small Steps is the story of Armpit and X-Ray, both of whom turn out to be juvenile offenders with who were at Camp Green Lake because of what they did.

Small Steps starts two years after Holes. Armpit is trying to graduate from High School, and trying to be a good citizen (well at least trying to stay out of trouble). But then X-Ray shows up with a way to make him some real money doing ticket scalping. From there, the story is continues straightaway to its conclusion. No mystery here, only bits of drama. As it also deals with more mature issues: drugs and sex for starters, it's more for teens than kids.

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.