The beginning is incredible: Stanley Yelnats is walking unsuspectingly under a bridge when the huge, foul-smelling sneakers of a famous baseball player fall on his head. And since his father is working on a groundbreaking recycling process involving used sneakers, Stanley takes the stinky shoes as a sign and brings them home. Unfortunately, the police are already looking for the thief. The juvenile judge gives Stanley a choice: juvenile detention or 18 months at Camp Green Lake. He chooses the camp. The heat there is unbearable, and daily life is tough, but Stanley is not giving up that easily.