But her teacher, Miss Clavel, keeps her in line and does it well. Mayer pairs two very competent professionals in leading roles. In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived 12 little girls in two straight lines. For Madeline, she's the only kin in the world.
Trouble appears on two fronts.
First, the school's director and principal benefactor dies. And he plans to close it. At the same time, a wealthy family suddenly inhabits the house next door whose spoiled son is a source of constant chagrin to the entire school, but especially Madeline. Everyone here is overcome with one form of loneliness or another, except Madeline, who turns out, almost magically, to be the answer to everybody's problems. These solutions are somewhat pat, but all the better to be understood by the target pre-teen audience.