He even forms a tentative friendship with one of them, Zero.Īnd here comes the third strand of this story. You want to run away? You'll be buzzard food in three days.' Know why? Because we've got the only water for a hundred miles.

The lake dried up years and years ago: 'Nobody runs away from here. When you finish, the rest of the day is yours.' Stanley nodded to show he understood. If you dig up anything interesting, you are to report it to me or any other counselor. 'The longer it takes you to dig, the longer you will be out in the sun. 'No one is going to baby-sit you,' he added. Sir went onto explain that they started early to avoid the hottest part of the day. Breakfast is served at 4.30.' Stanley must have looked surprised, because Mr. Each hole must be five feet deep, and five feet across in every direction. 'You are to dig one hole each day, including Saturdays and Sundays. What can Stanley make of life in a juvenile detention centre? Stanley is rather a gentle type himself, overweight, reconciled to failure and being bullied at school. The family curse has struck again! The second thread of this story takes place at Camp Green Lake. So, when we meet Stanley Yelnats IV, he is on his way to a boys' juvenile detention centre for a crime which he did not commit.

Settled in America, Elya had one son who succeeded in making a fortune, but he lost it all when he was robbed by Kissin' Kate Barlow, the famous outlaw. Things never went right for long after that. Unfortunately for Elya, the courtship went wrong and in a fit of despair he boarded a ship bound for America to begin a new life before he had fulfilled his promise to Madame Zeroni. In return for Madame Zeroni's help, Elya promised to carry her up the mountain to drink from a special spring one more time before she died. He sought the help of ancient Madame Zeroni to win Myra's hand in marriage. Four generations ago, in Latvia, the young Elya Yelnats fell in love with the beautiful but stupid Myra Menke. You really get three stories for the price of one with this book, but the main theme is how young Stanley Yelnats IV comes to redeem the curse which was visited upon his great-great-grandfather and all the Yelnats family, through the generations, by Madame Zeroni.

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