Having the summer off can be difficult for someone in the educational system, where one often needs to take jobs during the summer months as supplementary income. So finds Skye Denison, as she runs through difficult jobs all summer. One of the most torturous is helping her uncle coordinate the First Annual Route 66 Yard Sale, which seems to put the entire community on edge, pitting family against family. A natural born swindler, her uncle lets snotty television crews take over her house, okays dubious entries into the petting zoo and leaves Skye to take care of all of the troublesome messes.

Filled with the characters readers know and enjoy from previous Scumble River mysteries, the plot is easy to fall into for even the novice Denise Swanson reader.