Alice-Miranda is in bustling New York City. It`s a blur of skyscrapers, hot dog carts, chats with zoo animals and classes at Mrs Kimmel`s School for Girls, right next to glorious Central Park. Her family`s glamorous department store, Highton`s on Fifth, has just been renovated, but plans for the fabulous re-opening party are going curiously wrong. Is that why Alice-Miranda`s father Hugh seems so worried? And why is her new friend Lucinda so shy about inviting Alice-Miranda home?