Literary Awards - Newbery Medal (1999), National Book Award for Young People's Literature (1998), West Australian Young Readers' Book Award (WAYRBA) for Older Readers (2001), Grand Canyon Reader Award for Teen Book (2001), Nene Award (2001), Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award for Grade 6-9 (2001), Massachusetts Children's Book Award (2001), Flicker Tale Children's Book Award (2000), Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award for Grades 6-8 (2000), Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (2000), Evergreen Teen Book Award (2001), Soaring Eagle Book Award (2003), Sunshine State Young Readers Award for Grades 3-5 and Grades 6-8 (2002), Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award for Junior (2001), Zilveren Zoen (2000), Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis Nominee for Jugendbuch (2001), Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction (1999), New Mexico Land of Enchantment Award for Young Adult (2001), William Allen White Children's Book Award (2001), Oklahoma Sequoyah Award for Children and YA (2001), Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award (2002), Premi Protagonista Jove for Categoria 14-15 anys (2000).

Stanley Yelnats is the victim of a generations-old curse that has been passed down in his family. Unjustly accused of a crime, he finds himself sent to Camp Green Lake, a boys' detention center where the inmates are made to dig holes all day long. As he begins to uncover the truth about the warden's true intentions for the holes, Stanley discovers that his own past is intricately linked to the mystery that has been buried beneath the dried-up lake. Through humor and ingenuity, he sets out to clear his name and unearth the secrets of Camp Green Lake, in a tale that ultimately leads to redemption and hope.