Chapter 3

Names: Lyra Taylor, Razeenah Sonday, Sienna Murray

Stanley went on the bus ride to camp alone. A guard had handcuffed him to his seat, ten rows back from the driver. All he carried with him was a backpack with some essentials and stationary. The land around was mostly just dry fields of cotton and hay. The air outside was hot and heavy, the bus had no form of cool air either. Stanley pretended that he was going to ‘Camp Fun and Games’, a made up camp he’d made his stuffed toys attend as a kid.

Back home, Stanley didn't have any friends and everyone teased him for being overweight. Sometimes his teachers would make unkind comments. When he was learning about ratios, the teacher used the heaviest and lightest people in the class’ weight, the heaviest being Stanley. That same day, he was arrested for a crime he didn't commit. The Yelnats family blame his great-great-grandfather for their bad luck. They believe that he had stolen a pig from a one-legged Gypsy. The Gypsy apparently put a curse on Stanley’s great-great-grandfather and all of his future descendants.

Stanley's family had always liked that 'Stanley Yelnats' was spelled the same forwards and backwards. Although the family has bad luck, they are always hopeful, but maybe this too was part of the curse. His mother told him that the first Stanley made a fortune in the stock market. Which wasn't too unlucky. But she doesn't always mention that he was robbed by Kate Barlow. Stanley's father was trying to recycle old sneakers, which caused the apartment to smell like rubber.

Although it's unfortunate, Stanley was impressed that his great-grandfather was robbed by someone famous. Although he wasn't killed, which was lucky.

As they arrived at Camp Green Lake, Stanley looked out the window. There was no lake, and nothing was green.