Stanley Yelnats is a young hero dogged by bad luck stemming from an ancient family curse in the coming-of-age adventure Holes. When he is unfairly sentenced to months of detention at Camp Green Lake, he and his campmates are forced by the menacing WARDEN to dig holes in order to build character. As Stanley and his campmates try to discover why the warden has such an odd interest in these holes, they plot to make a daring escape which they hope will break the family curse...but will it?