Surrounded by teasing brothers, Bayley Hughes, at the age of sixteen, still hung on to her tomboyish ways. When circumstances force her to become a junior housekeeper, Bayley has trouble managing her brothers, father, and her own peppery temper. A sprained ankle, new, strange neighbors, a first date, and a haircut strung together haphazardly do not result in any semblance of a plot. But, the gravest error on the author's part, is basing the end of the story on a highly questionable standard of ethics--: Miss Bradbury sees fit to have Bayley's family reward her for being a summer-time skullery maid, by ceremoniously presenting her with several pieces of amethyst jewelry (thus the oh, so clever title). This business of expensive materialistic rewards is a shabby way to incite young housework-haters to ""sacrifice"" themselves for their own families. Miss Bradbury has sketched a pretty unfeeling, insensitive little society based on materialism; this is not sound reading for young teenagers.