Ramona's world

Review by Booklist Review

Gr. 3^-6. It's been a long wait (Ramona Forever was published in 1984), but Miss Quimby is back, and she's as feisty as ever. Now in the fourth grade, Ramona is adjusting to life as a big sister to baby Roberta, finding out what it means to have a best friend, and experiencing the very first twinges of romance with her old buddy, Yard Ape. Plot threads run through the whole book, but as in the earlier novels, each chapter is also a small story unto itself. The vignettes are at their best when they get right to the heart of a child's concerns, as when Ramona accidently makes a face while having her class picture taken, a scenario immediately accessible to readers. Considering that Ramona made her first title appearance in 1955, Cleary (along with illustrator Alan Tiegreen) has done a remarkable job of keeping her au currant. There are a few slips here--girls who are almost 10 are more likely to be watching MTV than dressing up as princesses and witches--but for the most part, this is just what readers have been waiting for: vintage Ramona. --Ilene Cooper

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Cleary's first Ramona novel in 15 years opens as this strong-willed heroine enters fourth grade, determined to find herself a best friend. A new girl at school named Daisy fits the bill perfectly and costars in two of the novel's liveliest scenes: she and Ramona vacuum Daisy's cat, and while the two play a game of make-believe in the attic, Ramona's legs break through the floor and dangle over the dining room table. Though the precocious nine-year-old is on relatively firm ground at school ("By the fourth grade she had learned to put up with teachers"), Ramona resents the emphasis that this year's teacher places on correct spelling, tries to tolerate the seemingly perfect Susan andÄvery realisticallyÄalternately feuds and flirts with classmate Danny (whom she calls Yard Ape because he "acted like an ape on the playground"). On the home front, Ramona stews over her mother's preoccupation with a new baby and rolls her eyes at how sister Beezus (now a high-schooler) tends to integrate her newly acquired French vocabulary into conversation. A couple minor subplots seem dated (e.g., Beezus takes dancing lessons from her father in preparation for her first boy-girl party, to which she wears a blouse with ruffles), but most of Ramona's triumphs and traumas are timeless and convincingly portrayed. "I am a potential grown-up," declares this spunky protagonist on her 10th birthday, proudly trotting out one of her challenge words in spelling. Fans will hope that Cleary has many more growing pains and pleasures in store for Ramona before this potential is realized. 100,000 first printing. Ages 8-up. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 2-4-Picking up where Ramona Forever (Morrow, 1984) left off, Cleary gives her readers a much-awaited gem with this consistent and expressive look into the world of this beloved character. Here, eager readers find out just how well Ramona adjusts to being a big sister and a fourth grader. Irrepressible as always, she does not fail to satisfy with her antics. Beezus is in high school-getting her ears pierced, baby-sitting, and going to parties with boys-while baby Roberta is, well, busy being a baby. Ramona makes a best friend, falls through an attic ceiling, is a responsible baby-sitter, and struggles with spelling. Once again, Tiegreen provides well-chosen and well-placed black-and-white line drawings throughout. The story concludes with Ramona's 10th birthday, or "zeroteenth" as she is pleased to note. The close-ended chapters relate different episodes in the child's life, a format well suited for reading aloud. Write on Ms. Cleary!-Christy Norris Blanchette, Valley Cottage Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Horn Book Review

(Primary, Intermediate) Although it's been fifteen years since Ramona Forever, only two months have passed for the heroine herself, now armed for fourth grade with news of her new baby sister, Roberta. On the one hand, Mrs. Meacham loves Ramona's composition about Roberta; on the other, the teacher corrects Ramona's spelling in front of the whole class. And thus goes Ramona's year, a collection of ups and downs leading to her tenth birthday: ""'That's a teenager, sort of,' said Ramona. 'Zeroteen. That's a double-digit number.'"" This latest book about Ramona lacks the immediacy and tart style of its predecessors; Cleary here seems intent upon making Ramona (and Beezus) more typical than individualized. Too, passing references to nose-piercing and Velcro seem anachronistic: the sisters are otherwise untouched by life as we know it in the nineties (is Beezus really attending her first boy-girl party in the ninth grade?). While fans may welcome this Ramona redux, it's disappointing to see how innocuous she's become. r.s. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Ramona returns (Ramona Forever, 1988, etc.), and she's as feisty as ever, now nine-going-on-ten (or ""zeroteen,"" as she calls it). Her older sister Beezus is in high school, babysitting, getting her ears pierced, and going to her first dance, and now they have a younger baby sister, Roberta. Cleary picks up on all the details of fourth grade, from comparing hand calluses to the distribution of little plastic combs by the school photographer. This year Ramona is trying to improve her spelling, and Cleary is especially deft at limning the emotional nuances as Ramona fails and succeeds, goes from sad to happy, and from hurt to proud. The grand finale is Ramona's birthday party in the park, complete with a cake frosted in whipped cream. Despite a brief mention of nose piercing, Cleary's writing still reflects a secure middle-class family and untroubled school life, untouched by the classroom violence or the broken families of the 1990s. While her book doesn't match what's in the newspapers, it's a timeless, serene alternative for children, especially those with less than happy realities. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Ramona's World Chapter One Ramona Spreads the News Ramona Quimby was nine years old. She had brown hair, brown eyes, and no cavities. She had a mother, a father, a big sister named Beatrice who was called Beezus by the family, and -- this was the exciting part -- a baby sister named Roberta after her father, Robert Quimby. "Look, at her tiny fingernails," Ramona marveled as she looked at the sleeping Roberta, "and her little eyebrows. She is already a whole person, only little." Ramona couldn't wait for the first day of school so she could spread the news about her baby sister. That day finally came. It was a warm September day, and Ramona, neat and clean, with lunch bag in hand, half skipped, half hopped, scrunching through dry leaves on the sidewalk. She was early, she knew, but Ramona was the sort of girl who was always early because something might happen that she didn't want to miss. The fourth grade was going to be the best year of her life, so far. Ramona was first, to arrive at the bus stop in front of Mrs. Pitt's house. Mrs. Pitt came out the front door and began sweeping her front steps. "Hi, Mrs. Pitt," Ramona called out. "Guess what! My baby sister is two months old." "Good for her," said Mrs. Pitt, agreeable to a baby in the neighborhood. Babies did not scatter candy wrappers or old spelling papers on the lawn in front of her house. Ramona pretended she was playing hopscotch until her friend Howie, who was already familiar with Roberta, joined her along with other children, some with their mothers, who were excited about the first day of school. "Hi, Ramona," he said, and leaned against a tree in the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street. He opened his lunch bag and began to eat his sandwich. Ramona knew he was doing this so he wouldn't be bothered carrying his lunch. "Little boy!" Mrs. Pitt called out. "Little boy, don't you drop any papers or orange peels in front of my house. And stay off my grass!" "Okay." Howie took another bite of his sandwich as he moved to the sidewalk. Howie was not easily excited, which Ramona sometimes found annoying. She was often excited. She liked to be excited. When the yellow bus stopped, Ramona was first on board. She plunked herself down on a seat across the aisle from another fourth grader, a boy named Danny who was wearing a white T-shirt with Trail Blazers printed on it. Ramona called him Yard Ape because she thought he acted like an ape on the playground. She was glad he had not moved away during the summer. "I have a new baby sister," she informed him. Yard Ape closed his eyes and hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Another Ramona," he said, and groaned. Ramona refused to smile. "You have a little brother," she reminded him. "I know," answered Yard Ape, "but we just keep him for a pet." Ramona made a face at him so he wouldn't know she liked him. When Ramona jumped off the bus at Cedarhurst School, she greeted old friends, most of them in new, or at least clean, clothes for starting the fourth grade. When she saw Janet, whom she had often seen in the park during the summer, the two girls compared calluses on the palms of their hands. "Your calluses are really big," said Janet, impressed. It was true. Ramona's calluses were hard and yellow because she lived close to the park, where she often went with Beezus and her mother and Roberta on warm summer days. She worked hard at the rings -- pump, pump, swing, pump, pump, swing- -and by the end of summer she was able to travel down the line of rings and back again. "There's Susan," cried Janet, and ran to join her. Reluctantly Ramona followed. "Hi, Susan," she said, eyeing Susan's short blond curls. "Hi, Ramona," answered Susan. Neither girl smiled. The trouble was the grown-up Quimbys and Susan's parents, the Kushners, were friends. Ramona did not know what Mrs. Kushner said, but her own parents often said things like, "Now, you be nice to Susan," "Susan is such a well-behaved little girl," or "Susan's mother says Susan always sets the table without being asked." Such remarks did not endear Susan to Ramona. There was more. In kindergarten Susan did not like Ramona, who could not resist pulling the long curls she had at that time and saying, "Boing!" as she released them. In first grade, when the class was making owls out of paper bags, Susan copied Ramona's owl. The teacher held up Susan's owl to show the class what a splendid owl Susan had made. This seemed so unfair to Ramona that she crunched Susan's owl and found herself in trouble, big trouble. So how could anyone expect the two girls to befriends? As Ramona expected, the calluses on Susan's hands were so small they could scarcely be seen. ThenRamona saw a new girl who was standing alone. A new fourth grader, Ramona decided, and because she admired the girl's long fair hair she wentover to her and asked, "What's your name?" "Daisy," answered the girl. "Daisy Kidd." When she smiled, Ramona saw that she was wearing bands on her teeth. "What's your name?"Daisy asked. As Ramona told her, the bell rang, ending their conversation. On her way to the fourth grade Ramona passed her former classroom, where the teacher was standing outside the door welcoming her new class. When she saw Ramona, she waved and said, "How's bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Ramona?" Ramona's World . Copyright © by Beverly Cleary. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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