Stanley Yelnats, a boy who has bad luck due to a curse placed on
his great- great-grandfather, is sent to Camp Green Lake, a
juvenile detention camp, for a crime he did not commit. Stanley
and the other boys at the camp are forced to dig large holes in
the dirt every day. Stanley eventually realizes that they are
digging these holes because the Warden is searching for
something. As Stanley continues to dig holes and meet the other
boys at the camp, the narrator intertwines three separate
stories to reveal why Stanley's family has a curse and what the
Warden is looking for. When he was a boy, Stanley's great-great-
grandfather, Elya Yelnats, received a pig from Madame Zeroni, a
gypsy, in exchange for a promise. Elya's promise was that after
the pig grew strong he would carry Madame Zeroni, who only had
one leg, up a mountain and sing her a song that she had taught
him. After becoming disillusioned with the girl he thought he
loved, however, Elya hops a boat to America, ...