At the risk of nominating a book everyone has read already (and touching on the literary club's current theme), I nominate the award winning
Holes by Louis Sachar.
Amazon US - USD$6.99 |
Amazon UK - £3.32 |
Amazon CA - CDN$7.99 |
Amazon AU - AUD$4.29 |
Kobo US - USD$6.99 |
Kobo UK £5.39 |
Kobo CA - CAD$7.99 |
Kobo AU AUD$11.32
From
Goodreads:
Quote:
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Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten- pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the warden makes the boys "build character" by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption.
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Ostensibly written for young adults, the writing style is quite direct but not condescending, and the story is fun and has enough layers and depth to keep it interesting whatever your age. It's almost 10 years since I read this and I look forward to revisiting it. The prices for this seem to be all over the place, so shop around and you can probably get a good deal.
(
Regarding the fit to the theme: Camp Green Lake is not school precisely, but these are school age kids, and a juvenile corrections facility better reflects how I felt about my early years at high school anyway.)