Allison
- Allison is a pretty little girl whose best friend is Rondi. The boys tease her for being pretty, so Allison tells everyone in class that she knocked out Rondi's missing front teeth, and "The boys didn't bother her after that" (23.2).
- Allison's not only pretty, but she's also generous. She always reasons that if someone has been generous to her, she should give them something in return. Miss Mush asks for Allison's tangerine from her lunch, and because Miss Mush always gives the children food at school, Allison gives her the tangerine. The librarian asks to borrow Allison's book, and because the librarian lends books to kids at school, Allison "was glad to be able to return the favor" (23.12).
- Out on the playground, Allison starts playing with a tennis ball she brought from home. Louis asks for it, and since Louis always gives balls to children, Allison hands it over.
- Since Allison has given away all of her lunchtime entertainment, she goes back up to class.
- Mrs. Jewls asks if Allison will help her with a math problem and—of course—Allison says yes.
- The math problem turns out to be a spelling problem, but Allison helps anyway.
- Before the rest of the kids come back to class, Mrs. Jewls tells Allison that Allison has learned an important secret: "You learned that children are really smarter than their teachers" (23.32), Mrs. Jewls says.
- Allison is not impressed. "Oh, that's no secret," she says. "Everybody knows that" (23.33).