<DIV>&lt;P&gt;Ten-year-old Carmen settles into her new home in Ettrick, Virginia. It's Christmas and Carmen has a problem: she's bored and conspires against her parents to have a "free day" at the mall without them. A subplot in the story involves adopted brother, Clay, as he continues to wonder about his real parents, and Carmen decides to help him dig into his past. Will her parents find out about their schemes? &lt;/P&gt;</div>