Emma has a new dilemma as her hectic, lovable family heads north to Maine for vacation. Can she get away with smuggling her favorite ferret in her backpack so as not to be parted from him for the whole summer? And once she arrives at the "lake house," should she go forward with a secret plan to rescue her favorite tree from a zealous new neighbor who believes in sacrificing trees for an unobstructed view of the lake? Emma’s two problems spin out of control as she wrestles with how much to share with Annie, "the best nanny in the whole wide world," and her parents. In the end, Emma learns about trust and responsibility and discovers that grown-ups aren’t as bad as they seem at first.