I think of a book and a play, or a book and a movie, as two separate things - I don't think of it as my novel having a new life.

He could hardly lift his spoon during breakfast, and then he was out on the lake, his spoon soon replaced by a shovel.

You need a reason to be sad. You don't need a reason to be happy.

Doesn't every kid want to dig a hold to China? Didn't you? What about Chinese children?

School just speeds things up... Without school it might take 70 years before you wake up and are able to count.

I guess what led to me writing 'Holes' was having moved to Texas in 1991, and it was sort of my reaction to Texas.

I never think of an entire book at once. I always just start with a very small idea. In 'Holes,' I just began with the setting; a juvenile correctional facility located in the Texas desert. Then I slowly make up the story, and rewrite it several times, and each time I rewrite it, I get new ideas, and change the old ideas around.