Beverly Cleary

Harcourt Brace Publishing

Ramona Quimby

Now that Ramona is eight-years-old, she's doing all kinds of things she's never done before. She's in a new school with a new teacher, and best of all, she takes the school bus--all by herself! But since her mother works and her daddy's in art school, Ramona has to stay with old Mrs. Kemp every day until Beezus comes for her. And as if all that isn't bad enough, she has to be nice to four-year-old Willa Jean.

Ramona knows the family is depending on her to be brave with all those changes. but sometimes it's hard. Can Ramona really handle a new school, help out at home, put up with Willa Jean, and still keep smiling?
--back cover

Ramona Quimby, Age 8

Sarah Sammis

Beverly Cleary has written around forty books and has been writing for longer than I've been alive. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 is the first book by her I've read and I loved it. It won't be the last.

Ramona Quimby, Age 8 is the sixth book that features Ramona Quimby. Ramona is proudly starting 3rd grade. She gets to ride the bus. She's going to learn longhand. She has "Sustained Silent Reading" which she adores.

She unfortunately has a few things to worry about too: Yard Face who might be a friend or might be a bully, her teacher has called her a "show off" and a "nuisance" and she's had the embarrassing experience of throwing up at school.

Coming to this series though as a parent where my oldest is almost Ramona's age and my husband has just finished graduate school, I completely related to the Quimby parents. I nodded along when the car need a new transmission, when the dad was trying to do his homework over the noise of the kids being kids and the mom accidentally sending a raw instead of hardboiled egg in Ramona's lunch.

Despite some dated references (like Ramona playing with the cigarette machine in the restaurant), the book holds up because the characterizations are so believable. The Qumibys are a believable parents trying to get by on limited funds while still providing a loving and nurturing environment for their children.

Ramona Quimby

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