In Louis Sachar's award winning book Holes, we see gender biases in many characters. The first and most obvious bias in this book can be found in the way Sa

char's characters address Mr. Pendanski, one of the staff members at Camp Green Lake. Many of the boys refer to him sarcastically as "mom", and it is not because of his loving nature. Mr. Pendanski is neurotic about things the boys consider trivial and he has a tendency to nag them. Because Mr. Pendanski is portrayed as the antithesis of Mr. Sir, who simply drips testosterone, others view him as a female for his weakness. The fact that Sachar allows his characters to equate weakness with femininity, or more accurately motherhood, shows a certain bias towards the supposed strength that innately accompanies masculinity. This attitude is only furthered by the fact that the rest of the book as almost totally devoid of female characters other than the witch-like caricature presented to us in the form of the warden. She comes complete with a vicious disposition and poisonous fingernails.

The gender bias in Virginia Hamilton's Cousins is very obvious and straightforward in the form of Patty Ann, who is described many times the way we would talk about a porcelain doll. Hamilton places on her character the two most common stereotypes women encounter: the image of perfection and an innate insecurity with themselves. She does this very blatantly, as is evident in her writing. This image of perfection can be seen in Cammy's description of Patty Ann, "Patty Ann had her special expression again, the kind that made folks say she was the best. That made people not notice the rest of her was just skin and bones. Her face was just perfect..." (Hamilton 93). This image of fragile perfection is what has kept women (especially those of beauty) from being perceived as equal or intelligent. I was surprised to see this image so obviously presented until I realized it was necessary for the character to function properly within the story. However it is still obvious that one of the oldest female stereotypes exists in full force within the character on Patty Ann. In addition to this doll-like quality, Hamilton shows us the insecure underbelly of her character. Patty Ann shows throughout the book how much she fears what others think of her through her attitude. She has a tendency to be rather mean at times because of her insecurities and it serves to distance her from many people in her life. Hamilton uses Patty Ann to demonstrate the perceptions people may have of girls and then allows Cammy to digest Patty Ann's short life in order to debunk them. The image of Patty Ann while she is alive and Cammy's view of her after she is gone differ greatly, which serves to remove the validity from the very stereotypes Hamilton is presenting.

Bloor further stereotypes the Fisher family, but for a very different reason than the other authors I have discussed. He is attempting to satirize our stereotypes of the nuclear family through the over-the-top nature of this family. This is an approach that I have not encountered and found most enjoyable. Bloor has a tendency to write many of the family interactions in a rather tongue-in-cheek tone, which adds humor to the story and allows us as readers to laugh at the ridiculousness of our own preconceived notions about what a family "should" be. By showing us the augmented version of our stereotypes Bloor hopes to show us how silly they truly are.

· Creech, Sharon. Walk Two Moons. New York: Harper Trophy, 199

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Approximate Word count = 2273
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)