Holes

Title: Holes
Author: Louis Sachar
ISBN: 0439244196

Plot Summary: Stanley Yelnats, the son of a failed would-be inventor, comes from a long line of cursed individuals, all of whom bear the same name. The family curse dates back to an Eastern European ancestor who stole a pig from a a gypsy woman, Madame Zeroni. Stanley himself is wrongfully accused of stealing a valuable pair of sneakers, and is sentenced to a juvenile facility at which the Stanley and the other offenders have to dig holes all day, in search of a mysterious treasure sought by the woman who owns the land. In the process of meeting his fellow juvenile offenders, Stanley tries to figure out the mystery behind what it is they are searching for and the story behind it. In the process, the reader is shown flashbacks to the events leading up to the treasure's burial, and Stanley uncovers enough clues not only to change the situation at Camp Green Lake permanently, but possibly to lift his family curse once and for all.