As his awfully exciting adventures continue, young Eddie Dickens finds himself grappling with a hot-air balloon and falling head-over-heels for a girl with a face like a camel's.
Leaving his parents, his Mad Uncle Jack, and his Even Madder Aunt Maud at home at Awful End, Eddie Dickens, along with the color-blind Lady Constance, boards the ship the Pompous Pig on a mission to America.
When eleven-year-old Eddie Dickens's ill parents become "a bit cranky around the edges," he is taken by his great-uncle; Mad Uncle Jack, and his great-aunt; Mad Aunt Maude, and embarks on adventures that involve strolling actors, St. Horrids Home for Grateful Orphans, and a carnival float shaped like a giant cow.
