Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews February 15, 2023 February 8, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
When she finds her grandmother dead, Ellen immediately calls the undertaker, and then Nadine and Betsy, who sound put out that their mother has died so close to the busy Christmas holiday. Nadine comes over right away, and when she sees the frame of fake flowers that Ellen has strewn around her grandmother, she scolds her. Ellen has framed her grandmother's body with the flowers so that the Lord will be more apt to welcome her into Heaven, though she thinks that Jesus will see through the false smile she wears on her face. Betsy and Nadine fight over which one of them is to blame for their mother's illness, and Ellen is glad that, for once, she is not being held responsible for another family member's death.
Ellen packs up her few belongings and moves to live with Nadine and Dora. On the way to their house, Ellen feels lonely as she remembers how she would spy on Mavis and take note of her family. She wishes there were a store where she could purchase a home.
Ellen does not go to her grandmother's funeral because she feels that she has seen enough of death. Dora warns Ellen not to go in her room while she is at the funeral, and, thus, Ellen spitefully hunts around in Dora's room while she is gone, though she does not find anything surprising or scandalous. Both Dora and Nadine treat Ellen with distance and condescension, and Ellen declares that she will leave her room only to eat, go to school, and take phone calls, as she is disgusted not only by their attitude towards her, but by the convenient lies they tell themselves for comfort. She is determined to live a better life and knows she is deserving of it.
It pains Ellen to ask for new clothes, but she must, as she has outgrown her wardrobe. Nadine gives her a bit of money, and Ellen takes herself shopping. While in the store, Ellen makes a conscious effort to look earnestly, and eventually finds a dress she thinks is the most beautiful dress she's ever seen. When she puts on the dress and looks at herself in the mirror, she thinks she could fall in love with herself and takes the dress as the first sign that her luck is changing for the better. Surely enough, the following Sunday, during church, Ellen sets her sights on her new mama. While everyone is praying, Ellen looks at her new mama, then up at the Lord to thank him for sending her the dress, because in it, she looks like she is worth something. After the service, Ellen asks Dora about her soon-to-be new mama, and Dora tells her that she will take in anything from "orphans to stray cats," which sounds good to Ellen.
As expected, Ellen's new mama welcomes Starletta and even ensigns the letter "S" on a set of towels, per Ellen's request. Ellen wants more than anything to repay Starletta for all of the kindness she showed her when they had been closer friends. She spreads her own rumor in the lunchroom that Starletta is coming over to stay at her house that night and takes special care to ensure that Dora finds out.
Throughout the novel, Ellen has very few of her own possessions, for each time she moves, she tosses her belongings into a cardboard box, as she does before leaving to stay with Nadine and Dora. Material possessions have little value and little importance to Ellen; the one thing Ellen wants is what she cannot seem to have—a loving home. On her way to Nadine and Dora's house, Ellen wishes that there were a store where she could buy such a home, though she must eventually learn that money cannot buy love. Indeed, Ellen has tried to pay for love, first offering a dollar to Starletta's mother in exchange for one night's stay and safety, and later, to her new mama for her care and attention. Also, Ellen has already learned from her miserly grandmother that wealth does not necessarily equal happiness. Despite what she has learned in the past, Ellen's foremost need is for a stable, loving home, and the only way she knows how to attain it is to pay for it, as she has learned to do with everything else.
Please wait while we process your payment