Ellen Tebbits (Ellen & Otis #1) by Beverly Cleary

★★★

I have clear memories of reading this book as a child! But interestingly, reading it as an adult, it mostly just struck me as old-fashioned. Even though it's set in about the same time period as the Ramona and Henry Huggins books, it just seemed out of date, while the Ramona and Henry Huggins series seem timeless.

Many of the anecdotes take place within classrooms, and I was so surprised to find myself feeling that the classroom dynamics were inappropriate, even though they reminded me of just what my own elementary school days were like. For example, rather than assigning and rotating job duties fairly among all students - which is the norm in today's classrooms - the teachers simply handpicked students to do special jobs, making the students who were never chosen feel as though the teacher didn't like them.

There was another kind of childhood injustice depicted in the book that I think is still quite prevalent today. More than once, Ellen is called out for whispering in dance class, even though she is only trying to respond to Otis's bad behavior by asking him to stop. Ellen gets disciplined, but Otis does not. I remember feeling wronged as a child when I was disciplined for doing something bad while the other child who "started it" got away with their bad behavior. Like Ellen, I didn't dare speak up to defend myself, and even if I did, it would probably have been seen as talking back to the adult, or tattling on the other student. I know that both my kids have experienced this type of inequity already, and at the very least, I like that this book shows them that they are not the only ones who are sometimes treated unfairly due to a misunderstanding or an adult's incomplete view of a situation. Or, as in Ellen's case, perhaps a true bias, as the instigator, Otis, was the dance teacher's son!

Anyway, I think Ellen and Austine's friendship was realistic, and on the one hand I think it's nice for children to read about all kinds of relationship dynamics, so they get to understand that a whole range of experiences - including fighting with friends - is normal. On the other hand, though, I really disliked the way Austine so quickly replaced Ellen, and what would become of Linda after Ellen and Austine made up? Still, I really liked that Ellen and Austine resolved everything between themselves, not just apologizing, but also fairly understanding the other person's point of view.