It is part of a series of books that Lowry wrote about Anastasia and her younger brother Sam.

At first, Anastasia thinks that being in charge of the house in her mother's absence will be a snap, particularly when she and her father make up an easy to follow, super-organized housekeeping list.

First, her younger brother Sam gets the chicken pox, and Anastasia has to stay home from school to take care of him.

Then her boyfriend, Steve, asks her out on their first real date—but she finds out she can't go out with him because she has to stay home to chaperone a meeting between her father and Annie, one of his ex-girlfriends.

Numerous disasters—small and large—strike, but luckily Anastasia won't be on her own for long, as her mother is able to come home early and straighten things out again.