6 h 34 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 34 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
How do you find your place at a new school without leaving yourself behind?
Tabitha comes to Ivy Hall with a spirited nature and a place to find among other girls. In Ruth Brown MacArthur's school story, a new community brings questions of friendship and belonging. At its heart is a simple tension: wanting to be part of the group while holding on to what makes you yourself.
Tabitha at Ivy Hall explores kindness, the wish to fit in, and the courage to remain yourself. School life gives these ideas a concrete setting: a girl among other girls, learning what it means to belong. The appeal lies in that personal struggle, with friendship at the centre rather than fast action or dark themes.
What you’ll discover
- A spirited young heroine Meet Tabitha as she enters Ivy Hall and seeks a place in its community.
- The pull of belonging Explore the wish to fit in without giving up your own nature.
- Kindness at the heart Consider how kindness helps shape friendship in a story centred on girls' school life.
- Courage to be yourself Follow a theme that makes a spirited girl's search for acceptance feel personal.
- An old-fashioned school world Spend time with a gentle school story where friendship and belonging take centre stage.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy spirited heroines, school friendships, recitations and Christmas secrets will love this old-fashioned family story of kindness changing hearts.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A hated name sends a fiery girl fighting
- A borrowed dress brings public shame and comfort
- A cat she hates and a boy she loves
- Saying sorry takes more courage than fighting
- A fire, a spanking, and a path to school
- Ivy Hall begins with a fight over drawers
- Madame teaches her that giving comes from the heart
- The book asks what a name is really worth
- Temper, kindness, and a father to understand
- A lively voice, recitations, and a desert world
Who’s who
- Tabitha CattA black-eyed, quick-tempered girl who hates her name, loves reciting poems, and longs for friends and a real home.
- Tom CattTabitha's gentle older brother, who looks after her and works hard to earn a college education.
- Maximilian CattThe stern, restless father who spends his days chasing mining claims and rarely shows love to his children.
- Carrie CarsonA kind, flaxen-haired friend from a happy home who shares her puppy and her loyalty with Tabitha.
- Miss PomeroyThe silver-haired principal of Ivy Hall, who treats her girls like family and teaches them to weed their faults.
- Chrystobel ClaytonTabitha's beautiful, spoiled roommate, who must learn to share and think of others.
- Mrs. VaneA frail, warm doctor's wife who teaches Tabitha to count to ten and to say sorry.
- The HermitA lonely man who lives in a patched hut with an ugly dog and keeps his own secrets.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
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- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Tabitha at Ivy Hall
by Ruth Brown MacArthur · 1911
A girl with a hated name and a fiery temper swaps the desert for boarding school and learns a better way to fight.
Medium level2–5 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
What would you do if your own name made every child in town laugh at you? Tabitha Catt, a black-eyed girl of eight, answers with her fists.
Tabitha at Ivy Hall at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 45 min3 h fast, 4 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 53,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1911by Ruth Brown MacArthur
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A hated name sends a fiery girl fighting
The book opens on a dusty road, where a skinny girl recites Barbara Fritchie to a pail of blackberries. A boy in a tree, Joe Pomeroy, laughs at her and sings a rhyme about Tabby Catt. Her name is Tabitha Catt, and every town she lives in turns it into a joke.
She drags Joe from his branch and pounds him with her fists. Then a hand lifts her off the ground, and she faces her own father, home from the mines after nearly a year. He sends her to bed without supper. That night her brother Tom creeps in with a biscuit and some cheese.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1911
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 4 h 15 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
MacArthur, Ruth Brown. Tabitha at Ivy Hall. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/tabitha-at-ivy-hall.
MacArthur, R. B. (2026). Tabitha at Ivy Hall. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tabitha-at-ivy-hall (Original work published 1911)
MacArthur, Ruth Brown. Tabitha at Ivy Hall. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tabitha-at-ivy-hall.
@book{macarthur2026tabitha,
author = {MacArthur, Ruth Brown},
title = {Tabitha at Ivy Hall},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tabitha-at-ivy-hall},
note = {First published 1911}
}
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What is Tabitha at Ivy Hall about?
It follows Tabitha Catt, a quick-tempered girl who hates her cat-like name. She grows up in a desert mining town and then at a California boarding school, learning about friendship, temper, forgiveness, and family.
Why does Tabitha hate her name?
Her name is Tabitha Catt, so children in the towns where she lives tease her with rhymes about Tabby Catt. She even tries to adopt a grander name from an old family Bible.
Who are Carrie, Tom, and Chrystobel in the story?
Carrie Carson is Tabitha's first real friend and a superintendent's daughter. Tom is her kind older brother who studies for college. Chrystobel Clayton is her spoiled but changing roommate at Ivy Hall.
The author
Ruth Brown MacArthur
American children's author
Ruth Brown MacArthur wrote Tabitha at Ivy Hall as a story for girls, one of the school and family tales of the early twentieth century. The book shows her interest in mining towns, the American desert West, and boarding school life. She wrote with a lively humor and a firm belief in kindness, self-control, and the power of forgiveness.
More by Ruth Brown MacArthur
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