betty mermelstein

Teenager Karen has difficulty getting along with her mother, who does not share her love for crawling, six-legged creatures. While preparing for Thanksgiving dinner, Karen sees an image of a man when she polishes an old sterling silver spoon. She realizes that same face is in one of the photographs in the hallway upstairs. As she stares at the photo, and at the woman’s face in the frame next to his, both figures suddenly appear and ask where the bathroom is. They tell her that they are searching for a ruby scarab that was left in the same house a hundred years ago in the sunroom, which is now the bathroom. Karen tries to hide their existence from her mother, aunt, and younger cousin as she concocts a plan to have her mother win a free bathroom remodel in hopes that the ruby scarab can be found. Her ghostly ancestors get themselves in strange and funny situations as they attempt to help Karen find what they've been looking for. In the process, Karen learns to appreciate her relatives: past and present.