Nine-year-old Isabelle and her class are learning how to write letters, and it's a good thing, too - for she has a lot to write to Papa about after he dies. First of all, her cat ran away; then her older sisters, Irma and Inez, both got boyfriends; little Ida hardly remembers Papa at all; and brother Ian is just plain mad to be left with a house full of females. As for Mama, ever since she sold Papa's filling station and got a job cleaning houses, she's always tired with a capital T . But there's something much worse: Mama's family wants her to ship Isabelle off to live with her none-too-favourite aunt and uncle, to help lighten the load for Mama at home. Now who will be there to stop little Ida from calling Mama's new boss Papa ?