If I had to choose one word to describe this book, it would be: AWESOME! Hit rewind-- flashback time! The great-great-great grandfather of present day Stanley is chasing after a girl. Not just any girl, but the most beautiful girl in town. But someone else also wants to marry her- an old 60-year-old farmer! The only way to get her hand in marriage is to bring her father the largest, fattest pig. Not having something to bring, young Stanley goes to Madame Zeroni, who gives him directions to climb the mountain, and have a pig drink water from the river, while singing a special song. On the last day, he should bring Madame Zeroni up the mountain and have her drink while he sings the song. If he doesn't fulfill this, his whole family will be cursed. Stanley never carried Madame Zeroni up the mountain. Is the curse real? OK, fast-forward to now: Present-day Stanley Yelnats is an average boy, until one day fate hits him in the head. No, literally, it hit him in the head!😂 A pair of valuable sneakers fall out of the sky as Stanley is walking home from a hard day at school and the police believes Stanley stole them! He has a choice for punishment once he arrives in court: he can either go to jail, or go to Camp Greenlake. Easy decision, right? Camp Greenlake, of course! But Stanley soon figures out that this camp doesn't even have a lake! It's been long dried up. Every day at this camp Stanley must dig a 5 by 5 hole in the hard, crusty, desert ground. Not much better than jail! One boy nicknamed Zero asks Stanley to help him learn to read and write in exchange for help shoveling his hole. After Zero runs away, Stanley runs after him-- but they have no water. Can they survive, and will the curse finally be broken? And what are the holes kids have been forced to dig really for? This book was so good! The plotline flowed together, and I was hanging on the edge of my seat to read more! The story itself is brilliant, I would have never thought of it myself! 5/5❤