Ellen Tebbits

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name = Ellen Tebbits


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author = Beverly Cleary
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country = United States
language = English
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genre = Novel
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"Ellen Tebbits" is a juvenile fiction novel written by Beverly Cleary, her second book for kids and young adults. It was illustrated by Louis Darling and was first published in 1951. Even though the story is set in the 1950s, Cleary's knack for creating stories that are relevant even today is very much visible.

Plot

Ellen Tebbits lives with her parents in Portland, Oregon and goes to Rosemont School. As the story begins, she is headed to dance class at the studio run by the mother of a classmate, Otis Spofford. When she arrives, she goes to change in a broom closet so the other girls can't see her terrible secret - she's wearing woolen underwear. After class, she accidentally walks in on a new girl in class, Austine Allen, who's also wearing the dreaded underwear. Soon, the two become best friends.

Other chapters in the book deal with Ellen's attempt to ride a horse when she never rode before; Ellen's efforts to bring a beet to school for show-and-tell; and Ellen and Austine's efforts to put up with the antics of Otis. During their summer vacation, Ellen and Austine come up with a scheme to dress as twins on their first day back to school, with their mothers making the dresses. But there's a problem, Austine's mother can't sew, but she will try to so Austine can be happy. On the first day of school, Ellen's dress perfectly fits her while Austine's doesn't. As the day goes on, Ellen becomes increasingly irritated with Austine pulling on her sash, until finally, she snaps upon feeling her sash being yanked on once again. She whirls around and slaps Austine, who this time was an innocent bystander.

Ellen and Austine's friendship is put on hold after the incident and the two go weeks without speaking to each other. An awkward moment happens in the final chapter when Ellen and Austine are chosen to clean erasers. Ellen becomes infuriated and pulls too hard on Austine's sash, ripping her dress. Rather than be angry at Ellen, Austine breaks down and the two make amends.

Trivia

*The fictional Glenwood School, the Portland school attended by Cleary characters Henry Huggins, and Ramona Quimby and Beezus Quimby; gets a brief mention in the book. Rosemont is another fictional school in the Portland district.
*Austine mentions repeatedly in the first chapter that she just moved to Oregon from California, and complains about how much it rains in Oregon. Beverly Cleary grew up near Portland, but attended college in California's Bay Area.