Stanley Yelnats is just a regular kid until one day he found a shoe who belonged to a baseball player, Clyde Livingston. The fact that Stanley's family is cursed, he and his family always had a bad luck. His family got a curse because of his great great grandfather, Elya Yelnats who made a deal with Madam Zeroni to carry a pig to the mountains while singing a song. He has to do it until the pig grew strong and big. He made this agreement to mary a girl called Myra. After the pig grew big, Elya is suppose to carry Madame Zeroni to the mountains. If he didnt do it, then his family will be cursed. He then forgot to do it because of the distraction of his love life. He then left to move to America and he got married with another women there. But everyday he kept thinking about the promise he make with Madame Zeroni.
Stanley was then given a choice by the judge. He was suppose to choose whether to go to jail or Camp Green Lake. Camp Green Lake is a dried up place. There used to be a lake there. Everyday, Stanley has to dig a hole that is 5 feet deep and 5 feet long. Stanley is given two sets of clothes. He then met new friends such as Armpit, Zig Zag, Zero, X-Ray and many more. The Camp Green Lake is guarded by Mr. Sir, Mr. Pendanski and the Warden. In camp green lake, they had to be careful of Yellow Spotted Lizards. If one of them got bitten by that lizard, he would die slowly.
Around one hundred years before Camp Green Lake, the green lake town is a beautiful town. The lake is still there and there are beautiful Peach trees grow and more. Katherine Barlow, which is called as Kate Barlow, was a school teacher. She then falls in love with an onion seller, Sam. Because of the slavery, Sam is not allowed to have a relationship with Kate Barlow because he is black and its against the rule for black people to have a relationship with white people unless the white people allowed it.
One day, Sam kissed Kate but then Trout Walker, a rich guy saw them kissed. Trout is obviously not happy with it. So then he set Miss Katherine's school on fire. Miss Katherine then ran to the sheriff to get some help but then the sheriff was also angry. Miss Katherine then ran to Sam and told him to escape but then while they are escaping, one of Trout Walker's men catch up to them and then they murdered Sam.
Katherine Barlow then became an outlaw. Her first victim is the sheriff. She shot the sheriff in the head. After killing him, she then kissed his chick to leave a lipstick mark on sheriff's face. She was then known as Kissin Kate Barlow. She started killing a lot of people and robbing them. But then she also robbed from Stanley's great grandfather. The Green Lake then dried up since they killed Sam, causing all people to move from there.
Stanley then made an agreement with Zero. If Stanley teaches Zero how to read, Zero would helped Stanley to dig his hole. One day Zero told Stanley that his real name is Hector Zeroni. That means that Hector Zeroni is the great great great grandson of Madame Zeroni.
