38 pages • 1 hour read
Barbara RobinsonThe Best Halloween Ever
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1981A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 3-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 3 Summary
The next morning, Mr. Crabtree announces that “owing to widespread misconduct” (21), by some students, a Halloween event will be held at Woodrow Wilson School, chaperoned by parents and teachers. Alice Wendleken says what everyone is thinking—namely, that by “some students,” Mr. Crabtree means the Herdmans—and she turns around to glare at Imogene. Imogene herself is surprised at the news but doesn’t seem that angry at Alice’s accusation. The more immediately startling revelation is that Mr. Crabtree is showing an unusual amount of interest in Halloween for someone who thinks it’s on October 29. The fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Hazelwood, suggests that one of the students should interview the principal to find out what he’s thinking—for extra credit, of course. Only Alice volunteers. However, it’s soon clear that Mr. Crabtree’s enthusiasm is a result of the holiday’s potential for assigning more work: essays on the history of Halloween, reports on its symbolism, and so on. Alice, keen to take on any opportunity to get extra credit, gets to work immediately. The other students follow reluctantly, deciding that this Halloween is better than no Halloween. The kids start to think about their costumes. Beth is looking forward to being a belly dancer, even though her mom won’t let her put a jewel in her belly button. Charlie is still disappointed about the lack of trick-or-treating, but their mom is happy that Halloween this year will be “safe and controlled” (30). Beth notes that her mother will be proved wrong in this speculation.
Chapter 4 Summary
Charlie wants to believe the Herdmans have managed to miss all the news about the school-based Halloween, envisioning them running the streets by themselves on the night of October 31. Beth isn’t convinced since it’s impossible to avoid talk of the Halloween event at school. Everyone’s parents are getting involved, and Beth is relieved that her mother is going to stick to the “pumpkin committee.” As usual, Mrs. Wendleken is in charge of everything, so Alice knows all the details. For instance, the “Mystery Swamp” will probably be in the fourth-grade classroom, says Alice. It was supposed to be in the teachers’ lounge, she continues, but there’s a hole in the lounge floor that’s usually covered up with a bookcase, and it wouldn’t make sense to have a bookcase in a swamp. Alice tells Beth in secret that she plans to dress up as a Christmas tree, decorated with real lights that can be plugged in. Alice makes Beth promise not to reveal her plan to anyone. Beth’s classmate Boomer is thinking about dressing up as King Kong, using his grandmother’s old fur coat, but, like many Woodrow Wilson students, he’s finding it hard to get excited about the possibility of a boring school Halloween.
Chapter 5 Summary
News spreads around the school that the Herdmans aren’t planning to attend the Halloween party at all; suddenly, everyone else seems more excited about it. Beth and Charlie’s mother is happy about this, too, remembering how Leroy Herdman wallpapered Charlie to the door of the coatroom back in second grade. Louella McCluskey’s mother said she’d pay her $8 if she brings her little brother to school on Halloween—but only if there are no Herdmans around. The money would allow Louella to purchase something other than her usual pilgrim costume, and a brief conversation with Imogene Herdman leaves Louella convinced they really won’t be there. While parents and teachers are getting excited about Halloween night, children have started to notice that there isn’t any candy on sale at the stores in town, even though the parents dismiss their concerns. Alice tells a group of her classmates that the real reason the adults decided to have a school Halloween was so that they could keep an eye on the Herdmans. That the Herdmans have decided not to come is just a bonus: a “Herdman-free” Halloween, as Alice puts it. Unfortunately, Beth notices that Imogene is nearby and has heard every word.
Chapters 3-5 Analysis
This section builds up the key theme of The Enduring Appeal of Halloween. While the grown-ups support the idea of a “controlled and safe” Halloween (31), the children find Halloween and control to be antithetical ideas. The clash between the grown-ups’ and children’s worldviews leads to a number of humorous misunderstandings, as when the children are dismayed to realize that the monsters at Halloween will be their parents playing dress-up. Of course, the fact that many of the parents enthusiastically embrace the chance to wear costumes themselves implies that they, too, retain some of the childlike sense of wonder surrounding the holiday.
In the world of the novel, the activity of trick-or-treating is central to The Enduring Appeal of Halloween. Beth notes in the previous section that what makes Halloween perfect is children “on one end […] trick-or-treating” and “grown-ups on the other end” to help children put together costumes and hand out candy (19). With trick-or-treating off the table this year, the children’s enthusiasm about their costumes also dwindles. People who formerly dressed up as dinosaurs now want to dress up as a “Happy Hobo” (40), the mascot of a hardware store. Yet, as the plot proceeds, the excitement for Halloween does begin to grow, showing the appeal of the holiday, as well as the very idea of community celebrations. One of the novel’s key elements is how festivals bring a community together and foster the spirit of collaboration and creativity. As a result, festivals such as Halloween also provide an environment for Finding Joy in the Unexpected. Indeed, sometimes the very rituals themselves become ways to enable surprise.
This section describes much of the community coming together to plan the Halloween event at Woodrow Wilson School. The community around the school represents an idealized setting, where the greatest danger is the Herdmans, a group of unruly, but ultimately harmless, children. However, at least at this point, not everyone understands The Importance of Inclusivity in Communities. The parents, mayor, and principal attempt to form a community around the idea of exclusion—specifically, the exclusion of the Herdmans. Yet, because this is a novel about friendship and community, the text foreshadows that the Herdmans will not just be ultimately a part of Halloween but will also bring Halloween to life.
Apart from humor, the narrative also contains an element of thrill, with children constantly wondering what the Herdmans will get up to next. Chapters often end with Beth indicating that their assumptions about a safe Halloween are going to be wrong, or with a cliffhanger. In Chapter 4, for instance, Beth ends the section with the statement that the “only scary thing was going to be Mr. Walker’s Dracula teeth” (40), which immediately suggests the opposite is true. In Chapter 5, Imogene overhears Alice telling Beth and her friends that they will be getting a “Herdman-free Halloween” (52). Beth registers Imogene’s response, and she and her friends worry about the consequences.
