Ramona Quimby, Age 8
| Ramona Quimby, Age 8 | |
|---|---|
 Yearling Books edition cover. |
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| Author(s) | Beverly Cleary |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Ramona Quimby |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publication date | 1981 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Preceded by | Ramona and Her Mother |
| Followed by | Ramona Forever |
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 is a juvenile fiction novel written by Beverly Cleary. It is the sixth installment in the Ramona Quimby series. It was illustrated by Alan Tiegreen and was first published in 1981. The current[which?] edition was illustrated by Tracy Dockray. It is a 1982 Newbery Honor award winner. It has also been published in Houghton Mifflin books.
[edit] Plot summary
The novel opens with Ramona starting third grade and being excited about riding the school bus all by herself. At the same time, her older sister Beezus is enthusiastic about starting junior high, while their father begins taking college classes with a view to becoming a teacher, quitting his job as a supermarket checker that he acquired in the previous novel.
In the first chapter Ramona is shocked to learn Mr. Quimby is back in school. On the bus Ramona meets a Boy named Danny who she called a yard ape .Once Ramona arrives at school, she instantly clicks with her teacher, Mrs. Whaley ("a whale with a 'y' for a tail"), and starts signing her name, "Ramona Quimby, Age 8". But of course, as is normal for Ramona, things don't always go as planned. One day, she takes a hard-boiled egg to school for lunch. When she whacks it against her head to remove the shell as per a third-grade trend, she realizes it wasn't hard boiled and gets raw egg in her hair. She later overhears Mrs. Whaley talking about the incident in the staff room, commenting "What a nuisance". Ramona is shocked and upset that her teacher thinks of her like this. In another chapter, Ramona and Beezus claim not to like tongue because of "those yucky little, small, and tiny bumps". As punishment for their comments, Mr. and Mrs. Quimby state that their two daughters should prepare the evening meal. The next day, Beezus and Ramona behave themselves in the hope that their parents will forget about their punishment. Unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Quimby remember and instruct the sisters to cook dinner. They prepare chicken thighs, rice and cornbread. However, they substitute other ingredients, because they run out of the right ones: They use Cream of Wheat in the cornbread with the cornmeal and banana yogurt and chili powder in the chicken. They also make a mess of the kitchen. Their parents pretend to like the dinner. In another chapter, Ramona contracts stomach flu and she does the "most terrible, horrible, dreadful, awful thing" — she throws up in front of everybody in class.
After Ramona recovers, she has hangups about a book report she is assigned to do, and comes up with a clever way to present it, she makes cat masks and tell her friends to act like cats. Mrs. Whaley congratulates her warmly. Ramona confronts her teacher about the way she called her a nuisance. Mrs. Whaley replies that she meant it was a nuisance for the school secretary to have to wash the egg out of Ramona's hair. In the final chapter, the Quimbys are in a generally bad mood on a rainy Sunday, hardly a novelty in Oregon, complete with Beezus being upset over not being able to spend the night at her friend Mary Jane's house because of coming home exhausted and angry, Ramona being forced to clean up her room , and Mr. Quimby getting annoyed with his art assignment. So, to cheer everyone up, their father decides they should go out to dinner for the first time in months to Whopper burger. There, the whole family realizes that a man, who had strangely asked Ramona if she's been nice to her mother, has paid for their meal, and they go home happy.
Characters Mrs.Quimby- Mother whose first name is Dorothy Mr. Quimby- Father whose first name is Robert Beatrice *Beezus* Quimby- Older sister who is starting junior high school in eighth grade Picky Picky- Quimby's old yellow cat who is 12
Howard *Howie* Kemp- Ramona's friend since nursery
school Beezus and Ramona Mrs. Whaley- Ramona's third grade teacher Daniel *Yard Ape*- Ramona's enemy who secretly befriends Ramona. And who Ramona secretly likes. Susan Kushner- Ramona's enemy since nursery schoolBeezus and Ramona Bruce-Willa Jeans nursery school friend Mrs.Kemp- Howie's mother Grandmother Kemp- Howie's grandmother
[edit] External links
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