Stanley Yelnats is a boy cursed with bad luck because of his great-great-grandfather's broken promise. Stanley is walking one night and a stolen pair of shoes (falls from the sky) and lands in Stanley's arms. Stanley is caught and is sent to Camp Green Lake for a crime he didn’t commit. At the camp, all of the boys dig holes daily as the Warden looks for old treasure. The story switches consistently from Stanley's time, his ancestor Elya Yelnat's era, and Kissin' Kate Barlow's past. Elya Yelnats (Stanley's no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great) failed to fulfill a promise to Madame Zeroni, causing the family to have a curse for the rest of eternity. Years before this, in the town Green Lake, a young Katherine Barlow fell in love with Sam, a black onion seller. Sam was killed for this, and Kissin' Kate Barlow was born. She buried Stanley's great-grandfather's money Which remained hidden up until Stanley's time. Stanley finds a lipstick tube having KB written on the side and realizes the Warden is looking for Barlow's treasure. Zero runs away from camp after he has taken enough bullying from everyone and Stanley follows looking for the so called "God's Thumb". Zero (a desendant of Madame Zeroni) faints while going to Gods Thumb faints and Stanley carries him to the top of a mountain, lifting the curse. After living off Sam the Onion Man's secret onion and water farm, they decide to return to the camp where they go to try and find Kate’s suitcase. When they find it, the Warden attempts to steal it from them. However fails after 9 yellow spotted lizards jump on them for hours. Stanley’s lawyer arrives, proving his innocence but they cannot get up because of the lizards. Zero gets up, scares the lizards using sunlight, and reads "Stanley Yelnats" on the suitcase's side. When they open it, they find valuable items and become super rich. Zero (who is revealed as Hector Zeroni) reunites with his mother, and Stanley's father invents a cure for foot odor.