Chapters 6 and 7 Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 6, Ellen's New Hobby, Ellen keeps a daily journal. She thinks that she needs a hobby. She feels like a car that is pulled over on the side of the road and is not going anywhere. She hears about the "Iditarod" on television. She understands it is a race that involves dogs. Since she has two dogs, she decides she can do it, although she is not certain exactly what is involved. She finally figures out what the Iditarod is and starts training with a sled and her dogs on a concrete street. The training is not going very well as her dogs tend to get in the sled with her. Her neighbors ridicule her but she is determined to be in the race.

Trying to pump her dogs up, she overfeeds them and they become fat and...