Little white lies . . .

What's wrong with Mary Roinson? That's what Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield want to know. She has a rich new stepfather who has a fabulous yacht and is going to build them a huge house. So why has Mary been acting so strange? Jessica is confident Mary will be herself again, just as soon as she finds out about the suprise birthday party for her on her father's yacht!
But Jessica is wrong - a party on the yacht is the last thing Mary wants. It could give away her whole secret. In fact, all of Mary's little white lies would get her into big trouble with her friends!
Will anone want to help poor Mary when they learn the terrible truth?

"It's true," Mary's mother told her. "Tim actually bought a boat for us today. And you'll never guess what kind! It's a tugboat!"
"That's right," Tim, her new stepfather, said. "One look and I fell in love with the old boat."
A tug boat! What would the girls in the Unicorn Club think? A lot of them had wealthy parents who loved expensive clothes and houses. She had already boasted to her friends about her stepfather, and how he was going to change their lives, how he was going to move them out of this small house into a fancy mansion he was designing, and how his architectural firm built skyscrapers and office buildings.
Just wait until my friends find out we've got a tugboat instead of a yacht, thought Mary. Just wait until my friends find out I've got a handyman for a stepfather!

Will Elizabeth and Jessica run against eachother for class president? Tug of War