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.

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards. It was recognised by the Parents' Choice Award. It was recognised by the Bluebonnet Award. It also was recognised by the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award. It was recognised in the Elementary category by the Virginia Readers Choice Award. Also it was recognised by the Massachusetts Book Award. It was recognised in the Grades 3-6 category by the Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award.

There are 224 pages in this book. This book was published 2004 by Boyds Mills Press .

Rob Shepperson's drawings appear regularly in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post, and he illustrated THE BIG HOUSE, by Carolyn Coman. He lives in Croton-on-Hudson, NY.