Accused of a crime he did not commit, Stanley Yelnats is sentenced and sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp. But there is no lake at Camp Green Lake; only a dried-up lake bed. Every morning, the boys at Camp Green Lake are sent out to the lake bed where they are made to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet wide. "You're digging to build character," the counselors tell Stanley.

As Stanley digs holes under the hot Texas sun, readers dig into Stanley's family history and the tale of Stanley's great-great-grandfather, Elya Yelnats. Elya's desire to marry the beautiful (but empty-headed) Myra Menke puts him on the receiving end of a family curse when he fails to fulfill a promise made to a Madame Zeroni. Though Stanley doesn't really believe in the family curse, he is quick to blame his great-great-grandfather for all his bad luck. It feels good to be able to blame someone.

Readers also learn about the history of the town of Green Lake and the tragic incident that drove the town schoolteacher to become Kissin' Kate Barlow, the notorious bandit who once robbed Stanley's great-grandfather and left him in the desert to die.

As he continues to dig holes, Stanley begins to suspect that he and the other boys at Camp Green Lake are being made to look for
something - something that the camp's warden wants.

The mystery of the warden's secret desire, the history of the town of Green Lake, and Stanley's own family history all fit together like the pieces of a puzzle as choices made in the past continue to have an effect on the present. Soon Stanley's very life depends on events that happened over 100 years ago.