Wouldbegoods, Being the Further Adventures of the Treasure Seekers

The Bastable children have been dispatched to the countryside, and they have made a solemn vow: they will be good. Absolutely, perfectly, undeniably good. No more treasure-hunting, no more questionable schemes, no more chaos. Pincher the dog has been brought along to witness their transformation into model young people. This is a recipe for disaster, and everyone knows it. Eleanor Nesbit understood something essential about children: they mean well, they try desperately to follow the rules, and somehow the result is still magnificent chaos. The children narrate their own exploits with the earnest confidence of barristers presenting evidence to a skeptical judge. Their logic is impeccable. Their conclusions are completely wrong. The gap between intention and consequence has never been so funny, or so tender. For readers who remember being young and certain that virtue would be easy, and who know now that the road to interesting outcomes is paved with the best intentions.