Three years after being released from Camp Green Lake, Armpit is trying hard to keep his life on track, but when his old pal X-Ray shows up with a tempting plan to make some easy money scalping concert tickets, Armpit reluctantly goes along.

Red-haired Marvin is convinced that the reason he looks different from the rest of his family is that he is really the lost prince of Shampoon.

Gary Goon'' Boone tells jokes instead of having conversations; almost everyone--parents, teachers, schoolmates-- is tired of him. When a talent show with a $100 prize is announced at school, Gary decides to make his stand-up debut memorable. His parents promise him another $100 if he stops telling jokes for three weeks. For Gary this is a minor struggle; he tries to understand why other boys his age collect baseball cards, and he gains gradual acceptance...

Even though they have all come to school in holey clothes, Marvin and his third grade class manage to impress their surprise visitor--the President of the United States.

Two days after Marvin sees a glowing green thing like a flying birthday cake in the night sky, his third-grade class is joined by a mysterious new boy with peculiar behavior.

Marvin is pleased when his teacher asks him to take care of her dog while she's away, but he soon finds that there's more pressure involved than he likes.

Marvin is pleased when his teacher asks him to take care of her dog while she's away, but he soon finds that there's more pressure involved than he likes.

Stanley Yelnats (Caveman, to some of you) offers anecdotes and advice on everything from digging the perfect hole to identifying and avoiding the wildlife (scorpions, tarantulas, rattlesnakes, yellow-spotted lizards, Mr. Sir) to help you make your stay a more pleasant one.

As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.