EVEN IF she has lived ten terrible years, terrible, horrible Edie really isnt terrible and horrible at all, but rather one of the most charming and engaging and gutsy children in American childrens fiction. Its true of course that Edie does get intoand not always without it being at least a little bit her faultsome pretty terrible and horrible scrapes, and that sometimes she will sulk, but these are the kinds of things that happen to the kid sister of two snooty boys and one fancy-pants girl, not to mention having to deal with the distraction of two half sisters who are no better than babies. Edies father and stepmother have headed to Europe for the summer, and though the rest of the family can look forward to good times at a beloved summer house on the sea, Edie still has to fight to hold her own. Adventures on a sailboat and on an island, and the advent of a major hurricane and what Edie takes to be a military coup, all come to a climax when Edie solves the mystery of who stole the neighbors jewels and saves, at least for one day, the day.