Review: Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary

What a joy it was to revisit my favourite, and arguably the best, book in Beverly Cleary's classic Ramona Quimby series. Written over a span of forty-four years (and itself a spin-off of the Henry Huggins series the first volume of which was published in 1950,) the books have a delightful timeless quality about them. The setting is slightly ambiguous, thanks to limited references to technology and the fact that the Quimby's are most definitely working class and non-political, nothing points to one decade, it could be any time point in the second half of the twentieth century. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 is a particularly joyous instalment in the series as we see Ramona come into her own more, while sensitive big sister Beezus is most definitely a teenager. We watch as Ramona starts at a new school, rides the school bus for the first time, and uses creative problem solving when it comes to her two enemies--Yard Ape from her class at school, and Willa Jean, the vivacious and bossy preschooler that Ramona is forced to entertain while been looked after at the Kemp's house each day after school. There are also other adventures, from being sick, her first ride in a taxi and the difficulties she faces with a new teacher.

This book is a delight from start to finish. It was a favourite during my childhood and it still holds up well now. Author Beverly Cleary has a wonderful sense of what is important to kids and writes of Ramona's experiences and feelings in a way that is instantly relatable. Although I had only intended to read just one book I am now keen to read the other books in the series, especially Ramona's World, which was published after I was too old for the books. 

Highly recommended. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh

Image
I picked up a copy of the first novel in the Boys of Tommen series assuming that it was set in a university. Turns out that I was wrong. The characters are all in high school, though as per the note in the front, the novel is pitched at readers over the age of eighteen. The setting is quite dark and topics addressed include alcoholism, physical abuse and bullying. The romance, pairing a fifteen year old girl who is small for her age and described as having a childlike appearance with a boy who is physically mature, sexually active, who invades her privacy and is not far from his eighteenth birthday seems questionable.  After suffering through years of bullying at school, some of which put her in hospital, Shannon has transferred to a private school, one so expensive that her mother has to take out a loan to pay all the fees. Things are going well, she has friends at her new school, there are strong anti-bullying rules in place and everything at Tommen College seems well, nicer ... ...
Read more

Feature and Follow Friday Feature blogger!

Image
Good grief! It's 8am, I've just jumped on the bus, checked my emails and discovered that I'm one of this week's Feature and Follow Friday feature bloggers! So, welcome everyone, and thanks heaps to Parajunkee and Alison Can Read ! This week's question is:  Confess your blogger sins! Is there anything as a newbie blogger that you've done, that as you've gained more experience you were like -- oops? For me, probably being a bit too hard and critical in my reviews than what the author deserved. I used to think that I was failing as a reviewer if I didn't point out at least one thing that was wrong with the book. As I've grown more experienced, I've realised that sometimes that said more about my skills as a reviewer/critic than it did about the authors work. 
Read more

Review: Stiff Upper Lip Jeeves by PG Wodehouse

Image
A sequel of sorts to The Code of the Woosters, Stiff Upper Lip Jeeves finds Bertram Wilberforce Wooster an unwilling (and unwanted) guest at Totleigh Towers with his ever-impressive valet Jeeve's in tow. Bertie's job is simple--to steal an ornament that Sir Watkyn Bassett bought at an unfair price, and return it to the previous owner at the insistence of Sir Watkyn's niece Stiffy, who wants revenge on the family matriarch for the fact that he won't give her fiancé, Rev Harold 'Stinker' Pinker a vicarage. Meanwhile, there are other problems afoot--chiefly in the form of Sir Watkyn's daughter Madeline, who believes that Bertie is still in love with her. She is also busy forcing her own fiancé, Gussie Fink-Nottle, to become a vegetarian against his will, which leads to Gussie falling in love with the new cook--who is none other than Pauline Stoker's younger sister Emerald, who has fallen on hard times. In the hands of many writers, such a shallow, farcical...
Read more