New York City, the year before Pearl Harbor. The four Melendy children and their father -- a brilliant, impecunious scholar and lecturer -- live in a dilapidated house in the city, under the care of a strict but loving housekeeper. Their allowances don't stretch to much as individuals, so they decide to pool their cash and on each of four subsequent Saturdays one sibling gets to blow the lot. This is a well-written book that doesn't talk down to its audience; the chapter where the youngest boy goes to the circus, gets lost, and comes home riding a policeman's horse should be read out loud for the flavor of the prose. \