Stanley Yelnats' family has had terrible luck, ever since his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather was cursed by a gypsy. For example: while walking home from school, a pair of sneakers falls from the sky and Stanley picks them up and continues on his way. Before he knows it, he's being arrested because apparently said sneakers below to a famous baseball player and are on auction at a homeless shelter for charity. Stanley is unjustly sent to Camp Green Lake, a correctional facility for bad boys.

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Camp Green Lake isn't Girl Scout camp. In fact, it's not really a camp. In fact, there isn't a lake. And almost nothing is green. Stanley and the other boys are forced to go out into the blistering desert heat each day to dig holes--exactly five feet deep, and five feet across in each direction. That's all. Apparently digging holes is supposed to build character.

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It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize that something more is going on. The Warden is looking for something; she's waiting for the boys to dig it up.