The townspeople in St. Clere, Kansas, are sure it will never work out when the neat and orderly spinster, Minnie McGranahan, takes her nine orphaned nieces and nephews into her home in 1920.
As the Hempels clean up their messy house in search of a whisk to make a cake, the reader is invited to participate in deciding where various objects belong.
No matter how hard he tries, Dirtball Pete is always a mess, and even after his mother scrubs him clean for a school recital to show others what a beautiful and special boy he is, he seems destined to live up to his name.