Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary, Alan Tiegreen (Illustrator), Tracy Dockray (Illustrator)

From Barnes & Noble

There's never been anyone quite like Ramona Geraldine Quimby! And now, the irresistible, irrepressible star of Beverly Cleary's best-loved and bestselling series is back -- in the paperback version of her first book in 15 years. Now, Ramona is a fourth grader, struggling with her spelling; feuding and flirting with her old nemesis, Yard Ape; and joyfully making her first real girlfriends. She's also dealing with life as a middle child -- coping with her teenage sister, Beezus, and their new baby sister, Roberta -- and simply learning about growing up. But through it all, Ramona remains funny, outspoken, and amazingly real! Ramona's World is out of this world...a book that's definitely worth the wait!

From the Publisher

Ramona's back and more fun than ever as she enters the fourth grade in this newest addition to the Ramona series. And things are off to a rousing start for the perky ten year old when she has a great first day of school, writing a gem of an essay about her new baby sister Roberta, and making a new best friend. But her elation is short-lived when she discovers that her spelling is in dire need of attention and Mrs. Meacham isn't quite as nice as she first appeared. Of course, the cast for Ramona's fourth grade adventures wouldn't be complete without big sister Beezus, annoying Susan, and the increasingly appealing Yard Ape. They're all here, along with a few new faces to delight listeners with the continuing adventures of a spunky heroine who's an inspiration to generations of fans the world over.

Newsweek

Grown-ups...will welcome the return of the mischeviousmelodramatic heroine after a 15-year hiatus...

Billboard - Trudi Miller Rosenblum

In this installment, Ramona gains a new baby sister, makes a new best friend, quarrels and then makes up with big sister Beezus, has a slight crush on Yard Ape(her nickname for a boy she's been playing with since kindergarten) and endures the highs and lows of fourth grade. Stockard Channing, who narrated the previous Ramona books, has a good feel for the material, conveying the spunkiness and occasional whininess of this spirted little girl.

Horn Book

(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.

Publishers Weekly

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 and--very realistically--alternately 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.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature

The first day of fourth grade held great promise for nine-year-old Ramona Quimby. She met a new friend, noticed there were no spelling words on the blackboard, and her teacher selected her composition to read aloud. However, spelling words, the bane of Ramona's existence, showed up on the second day. By the end of the day, she disliked her teacher and felt unloved by her mother who was was coddling her crying baby sister Roberta. It looked like a very long school year. We follow Ramona's ups and downs through the year as she and Daisy solidify their friendship. Ramona continues maturing through the story but still maintains her indomitable spirit. While this book can be read independently, it is even more enjoyable if the other "Ramona" books are familiar. Cleary is adept at taking everyday events and making the reader see the humor and delight in simple things. Everyone will want to visit with this old friend.

Children's Literature

In this re-illustrated version of the 1999 book, Ramona is in fourth grade and growing up. She still gets into scrapes and needs rescuing—such as the time when she falls part way through the ceiling while playing at her friend's house—but increasingly her family is telling her to "cope." Perhaps I should state upfront that I am a big fan of Beverly Cleary and the true humor found in her books, especially Ramona. And this book enchants fans like me, but it is not as seamless as the earlier books. Cleary spends more time saying that Ramona feels upset or lonely instead of showing us how those emotions are expressed in the life of the fourth grader. That said, it is worth every second to watch Ramona maturing through another year. Ramona becomes savvy enough to understand a boy's teasing is a form of greeting; she becomes a problem solver, figuring out how to release her baby-sister who is stuck in the cat—condo; and along with her friends she continues to think it is cool to have calloused hands because calluses prove how much time one has spent walking hand-over-hand on the playground equipment. Ramona is cool.

Kim Hubbard

As soothing as a Brady Bunch re-run but cleverer by far, Cleary's long awaited addition to the popular series will leave pre-teen girls clamoring for more.

People

Newsweek

Grown-ups...will welcome the return of the mischevious, melodramatic heroine after a 15-year hiatus...

The Christian Science Monitor - Enicia Fisher

Don't kick the summer reading habit: Beverly Cleary has written the perfect accompaniment to back-to-school days....Fans will hope Cleary and illustrator Alan Tiegreen continue their portraits of Ramona as she enters her teenage years

Kirkus Reviews

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, baby-sitting, 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. (Fiction. 8-12)

Product Details

• Reading Group Guide
• Read an Excerpt

Reading Group Guide

Ramona's World

By Beverly Cleary

Ramona is a fourth grader now, with brown hair, brown eyes, no cavities, and a new best friend! Mrs. Meacham, Ramona's teacher, says learning is fun in the fourth grade, but Ramona has better things to do than work on spelling -- although she can't think of what. Beezus is busy becoming a teenager: having her ears pierced and going to her first party with dancing. That gives Ramona a chance to try out baby sitting and even having a bit of a crush on a boy. As her baby sister Roberta's role model, Ramona teaches her to stick out her tongue and then realizes that Roberta now has a will of her own, and she's growing up -- just like Ramona.

1. While the grown-up Quimbys and the Kushners, Susan's parents, are friends, Ramona Quimby and Susan Kushner are not friends. Why not?
2. The new fourth grader at Ramona's bus stop is Daisy Kidd, with long blond hair and braces on her teeth. She and Ramona share parts of their lunch and are on their way to becoming best friends. Why is it so easy for Ramona to be friends with Daisy?
3. When Ramona thinks about herself and her sister Beezus growing up, she feels as if she were reading a good book and she wants to know what will happen next. Have you ever had such a feeling?
4. In the chapter called "The Princess and the Witch" whose fault is it when Ramona falls through the ceiling at Daisy Kidd's house? Why does Ramona think she's going to lose her best friend? Is there a happy ending to this incident?
5. When the photographer taking her school picture tells Ramona to "Say peas," she thinks of her baby sister spitting gooshy, smelly peas, and she makes a face that ruins her picture. Everyone laughs, and her father jokes that the picture captures the real Ramona. But later Beezus suggest that picture will make the perfect valentine to give the boy Ramona calls Yard Ape. Why? What do you think of Yard Ape's Valentine's Day poem for Ramona: "If you are eating peas/Think of me before you sneeze?"
6. Now that Ramona is in the fourth grade her parents often tell her to "cope" when she wants help. What do Mr. and Mrs. Quimby mean by that? Why is it important for fourth grade Ramona to "cope?"
7. The signs of Ramona's being "a potential grown-up" are becoming more apparent as Ramona discovers she is a role model for her sister Roberta, tries baby and cat sitting, and even starts to feel a little sorry for Susan. In what ways do you think Ramona will change as she grows up? In what ways will she remain the same?
8. Do you agree with Mrs. Quimby's book that says "Ten is the nicest year of growing up?" Why or why not?

Read an Excerpt

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 thestrip 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?"