The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls

The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls is a children's novel written by Elise Primavera. The book was published by HarperCollins in 2006.

Introduction

The story takes place in a whimsical, seemingly perfect town called Sherbet. The weather is simply lovely with it only snowing in the winter, and raining for precisely forty-five minutes in the summertime. Having supplied the reader a map, the narrator requests them to search for a street on it called Gumm. On this street live four girls of about the same age. Their names are Franny Muggs, Pru Gumm, Cat Lemonjello and Ivy Diamond.

Characters

• Franny Muggs: lives at #3 Gumm Street and is known for her creative ideas, such as anti-zombie spray and cartwheel school. She thoroughly admires the well-known adventurers Amelia Earhart and Sir Edmund Hillary, and even has a calendar displaying Earhart’s famous quote, “Adventure is worthwhile in itself.” The curious wannabe-explorer often surveys the neighborhood with her binoculars at the top of her “wedding cake” house. In Sherbet Academy, she is in “Liverwurst” and expresses feelings of animosity towards those in “Tuna-on-Rye.” Franny is the only child of parents, Babe and Angus Muggs. Throughout the novel, Franny shows her quick-thinking and bravery in her quest to help her newfound friend, Ivy Diamond.
• Ivy Diamond: At the beginning of the story, Ivy Diamond and her mother Pearl Diamond move to the decrepit, decomposing house of #5 Gumm Street. This is only one of many moves the Diamond family had to undergo in a futile attempt to escape Ivy’s seven-year Jinx. The Jinx first appeared after a mirror shattering and the disappearance of Ivy’s father. With this event occurring, Ivy has been plagued with unfortunate incidences. Despite her grim past, she has high hopes for her new life in Sherbet: befriending Franny Muggs, expiration of the Jinx, and taking piano lessons at Mr. Staccato’s. However, with the strange letter of her Aunt V in mind and the appearance of Cha Cha, Ivy’s plans for a new beginning take a turn for the worse (or better). Tenacity and friends are what help Ivy in her strange quest of silver shoes and wicked witches.
• Prudence Gumm: lives at #1 Gumm Street and spends her time making up Safety Tips (her favorite being Safety Tip #9: Look before you leap) and lounging under the covers with her favorite fuzzy sweater and books. She’s the only daughter of Patience and Judge Gumm. Throughout the book, Pru appears to be the classic “scaredy cat” character. The only reason she even considers helping Ivy in time of need is because she doesn’t want to look cowardly in front of long-time rival, Cat Lemonjello. While both Franny and Pru seem to have disdain for Cat (as well as each other), it’s clear she and Cat have a more of a personal history mostly due to their previous friendship. Even though Pru’s wit shines through at times in the story, she feels she’s not appreciated by the other girls’. However, her character develops into someone who is brave and takes initiative. This is most prominent when she volunteers to pick up villainous Bling-Bling’s vitamins in a dark, underground cavern called Spudz.
• Cat Lemonjello: resides at #2 Gumm Street with parents Lenny and Lynette and her ten brothers, River, Chakra, Dylan, Lennon, Om, Skye, Storm, Ziggy, Bowie and Jagger. The Lemonjello family makes their home in a giant tree house with solitary structures on various branches that serve as the children’s rooms. Cat spends her time doing cartwheels and other outdoor activities. She also enjoys consulting the I Ching in time of need. Cat is the 11th child of the 11th child. This extraordinary fact is said to be the alleged cause of her ESP. While this is often questioned by others (even Cat herself) in the novel, Cat sees things that others don’t. For example, she spots Ivy’s Jinx on the first day of meeting her as well as conjuring a wizard. In the story, Cat is perceived as a know-it-all and self-proclaims her title as Mr. Staccato’s best student. Despite these supercilious characteristics, her cleverness and talent made an obvious contribution in helping solve Ivy’s predicament.

Plot

At the beginning of the novel, former beauty queen Pearl Diamond and her daughter, Ivy, move into #5 Gumm, a house left to them by their deceased relative Aunt V. Their neighbor, Mr. Staccato, offers to give Ivy piano lessons, and Ivy accepts the offer. While moving in, Ivy befriends her neighbor, Franny. Ivy and Franny discover a letter tucked into a portrait of Aunt V, claiming that she faked her death to avoid a run-in with taxes. Pearl excuses it as simply Aunt V losing her marbles and Ivy discards the letter.

Ivy quickly learns the social situation on Gumm Street. Franny, Pru, and Cat all dislike one another for various reasons, with Pru and Cat in particular being rivals. As the novel progresses, Ivy maintains a shaky friendship with Franny, compromised by her attempts at befriending the other girls.

When Ivy goes to Mr. Staccato’s house at # 7 Gumm Street for her first lesson, she’s greeted by the strangely human terriers, Fred and Ginger. She also sees the glamorous Ruby-Red slippers from the MGM film, The Wizard of Oz. During the lesson, Ivy learns about Mr. Staccato’s past and his involvement in The Wizard of Oz film. She also discovers that Mr. Staccato’s house is the only place she feels safe from her Jinx, and makes an arrangement with Mr. Staccato to clean his house in exchange for free piano lessons.

Meanwhile, Cat has uneasy feelings and consults her I Ching. It warns her to pack up and leave town as well as beware of hurricane Cha Cha. She dismisses the warning as ludicrous. She also unknowingly conjures a wizard in a balloon that tells her “Heironymous Gumm... Behind” and to watch out for a backwards tidal wave.

After a humiliating piano recital and conflict with her neighbors, Ivy turns to Mr. Staccato for comfort. Mr. Staccato reassures her, telling her that her unique talent is strength. He also reveals to her the origin of the ruby slippers, and tells her that she is the true owner of the slippers, warning her never to give them up.

Sherbet’s first hurricane strikes during this conversation. Ivy speeds off home at the behest of Pearl. Staccato has more to tell her, and she promises to visit him tomorrow. Later, at #3 Gumm, Franny spots Mr. Staccato’s form levitating in the sky. He tells her, “You make a better door than a window,” and disappears into the stormy clouds. Shocked, Franny tells Ivy that Mr. Staccato is dead. Shortly after, Fred and Ginger show up on her doorstep crying.

The next day, the hurricane dissipates, and Ivy and Franny return to Mr. Staccato's house. Ivy takes one of the Ruby Red Slippers; the other is missing. Just then, Cha Cha, a glamorous woman claiming to be Mr. Staccato’s relative, appears and demands to be given the shoe. Ivy and Franny manage to escape to Ivy’s house, where they discover that the red paint is rubbing off of the slipper, revealing its true silver color. Ivy and Franny both agree to call Pru for help. Once there, Pru reads passages from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. They all conclude that Ivy, whose mother’s middle name is Gale, is a descendant of Dorothy, and that Fred and Ginger are related to the famous terrier, Toto. Despite Pru’s protest, they agree to call Cat and ask for additional assistance.

However, before Cat can provide much help, Cha Cha enters the house. Cha Cha intimidates Ivy into giving her the shoe. Upon finding that the other shoe is missing, Cha Cha makes her exit. After Cha Cha leaves, Cat suggests that she is the Wicked Witch of the West or someone related to her. Cat then explains how she conjured up the Wizard that said “Heironymus Gumm... Behind.” Cat consults the I Ching, which brings more ambiguous bad news. Ivy now has an eye on her hand from touching the shoe, leading Franny to believe that she has a witch after her. Franny persuades the girls to put their differences aside and ‘stick together’ to help Ivy.

Meanwhile, Cha Cha has enchanted all of Sherbet with her stylish clothing and tips on fashion. The Gumm Street Girls disguise an ordinary high heel with silver paint in a false surrender to Cha Cha. However, their plan backfires, and Cha Cha traps them in a champagne-colored Cadillac filled with jellybeans, sending them off in a “backwards tidal wave.”

Franny, Ivy, Cat, Pru, Fred, and Ginger wake up to find themselves in an underground world called Spoz. There they meet the vicious teens Bling Bling and Coco, who introduce themselves as Cha Cha’s nieces (or the Wicked Witch of the West's daughters). They enslave the girls and put them to work for the rest of the summer, threatening to send them to a mysterious place called Spudz if they do not comply.

One day, Coco catches Pru under her bed. Pru is shocked to discover that Coco has transformed into an old hag. In a desperate attempt to save herself from being thrown into the Beautyliator (an odd machine used to transform raisins into grapes), she offers to go pick up Coco’s vitamins in Spudz. However, before Pru can make her journey, she and Cat find that Ivy and Franny are missing. Ivy, in an effort to face her Jinx once and for all, had injured her arm and ended up in Spudz. Franny, upon finding Ivy missing, had gone after her. In order to escape, Cat pushes Coco into the Beautyliator and Pru pushes the button for her to be “beautified.” The escapees flee to Spudz to find Ivy and Franny.

In Spudz, Ivy meets the fearful and unfriendly Dr. Iznotz, a giant potato with several eyes and roots for hair. He gives her witch vanishing potion, for he fears that Ivy is a witch. She asks where she can find the other silver shoe, and he suggests talking to someone named Maz in Wormz Pock. On her way there, she’s intercepted by Maz and meets up with Franny. Maz gives the two girls a thick liquid that tastes like hot chocolate and heals Ivy’s arm. Maz later tells them the history of the silver slippers and how they came to be lost in the desert. Her tale suggests that the shoes are capable of time travel and unknown power. Ivy asks about her Jinx, and Maz says that he will never leave Ivy.

Under Maz’s instruction, Franny and Pru make their way through the Ooze, where they encounter the “zombie” of Aunt V. Aunt V reveals that she met her accidental demise when she electrocuted herself with a fork and toaster. Reminiscent of Cha Cha, Aunt V asks where the shoes are and Ivy refuses to answer. Aunt V proposes that they would be a good team together. Before Ivy and Franny can run off, the Jinx grabs Ivy and plunges into the ooze. Franny dives after her.

Meanwhile, Cat and Pru make their way up a potato mountain with Fred and Ginger in search of their friends. Pru discovers that they are close to the “sky” of Spudz, and in it she sees a hole. Setting their rivalry aside, they make their way through the discovered tunnel, where they reunite with Ivy and Franny as they shoot out of the ooze. The group finds a gingerbread cottage with a picture of Heironymous Gumm inside. There, they discuss what they have discovered in their travels and grieve over Mr. Staccato, deciding to name the small house “Middle C Cottage” in his honor.

After a day at Middle C, they find a secret passage behind the picture of Heironymous Gumm, and at the end of it, a safe just like the one at #7 Gumm Street. Ivy asks Franny what Mr. Staccato said to her when his spirit was floating in the sky. Franny replies, “You make a better door than a window.” With the words spoken, the safe opens and inside they find the missing silver shoe.

The Gumm Street Girls then find themselves in Mr. Staccato’s museum room. Pru finds a newspaper article about them, revealing that Cha Cha had fabricated a story of how the girls were sent off to a special music school in order to explain their absence. Cha Cha then appears and demands the shoes. The girls had already prepared the witch vanishing potion, but before it could be used, Cha Cha flings Franny across the room and dumps the potion down the drain. Fred, Ginger, and the girls run to #5 Gumm to escape Cha Cha. They smell something burning and realize the house is on fire. Barely making it out, the girls watch the ill-fated house fall on Cha Cha. Meanwhile, the Jinx positions himself to attack Ivy. Ivy takes the silver shoes and braces herself. Instead of killing Ivy, the Jinx hugs her and transforms into someone Ivy hasn’t seen in seven years: her father.

Back in Sherbet, the Gumm Street Girls rest and prepare for the first day of school. The reunited Diamond Family find Mr. Staccato’s will, and discover that he left his home and all his possessions to them. Now, at #7 Gumm, the Diamonds, Fred, and Ginger make their home. Ivy keeps the two silver shoes separated and hidden as Staccato did. The novel ends with the foreshadowing of Bling Bling’s reappearance and the actual reappearance of the suspicious Aunt V. Franny spots Aunt V through her binoculars and immediately calls for a meeting of the Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls the next day.