''No one knew that only three things stood in the way of the complete and utter destruction of the Earth: one elderly parrot, one eleven-year-old spelling mistake and one intrepid young newspaper-reporter-cum-schoolgirl in search of a Big Scoop.''
Oh my word! What a prospect! Let me break it down for you. The parrot has only ever learned to speak one sentence. The spelling mistake is between great and Greta. Both these things point the alien danger tp to Earth, a silvery robot, in the direction of Greta Zargo, who is the wannabe reporter.
Greta, whose parents died while she was still a baby, attained her majority aged just eight, thank to another one of those spelling mistakes. Greta manages pretty well as mistress of her own destiny, albeit with some interesting dietary choices involving sherbet and hot chocolate powder. Her overriding ambition is to win the Prilchard-Spritzer Medal; the top journalism award available to residents of the sleepy town of Upper Lowerbridge. Greta needs a Big Scoop. And she thinks she's found it when cakes suddenly start disappearing all over town.