The Big House
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
When their parents are sent "up the river" for embezzlement, Ray and Ivy are left to live in the lap of luxury with Marietta Noland and her ancient husband, Lionel. But life at the big house is not all it's cracked up to be. First there is the shrouded portrait, then there is the spider in the decaying wedding cake. And what about the vicious instrument Marietta uses to decapitate her egg? When "the rain in Spain" begins to fall (in other words, Ray wets his bed), things go from bad to worse and Ivy knows it is time to take matters into her own hands. What follows is a hilarious lark as Ray and Ivy case the joint, get the skinny, and show Marietta she has met her match.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Coman (What Jamie Saw) displays her versatility with this sly comedy about Ivy and Ray, two kids sentenced to live with an heiress whose testimony has just sent their parents to jail for embezzlement. The Big House of the title isn't a prison, but rather "La Grande Maison," the mansion owned by the scheming Marietta Noland, who "kidnaps" the siblings in a limo, and then "leave to their own devices." That is, until Ray has a series of "unfortunate accident," and Marietta banishes him to a room conveniently located close to the laundry. But what Ivy calls "solitary confinement" doesn't improve Ray's bladder control, and a new plan to send away the siblings to separate schools puts the pair in a panic. Coman salts the narrative with mysteries a bank robber grandfather with a felonious past, a shrouded portrait, a scroll hidden in a cake beneath a glass dome that culminate in a comical mock-trial in which Ray acts as prosecutor and Ivy as judge. In this affectionate portrayal of familial relations, Ivy serves not only as Ray's protector, but also as best friend and willing playmate. Though the parents are clearly flawed (they'd both "been sent off to jail before, but never at the same time"), Ivy and Ray love them, warts and all. Readers rooting for a happy ending will not be disappointed. Ages 8-12.
