Ramona Quimby Age 8

As Ramona worries about her upcoming book report, she notices that everyone in the family is on edge. Her parents are concerned about the car repairs, and Beezus frets over her first middle school party with boys and dancing. One night after dinner, Beezus notices that her father’s hair is thinning. Ramona, trying to be kind, says: “You aren’t bald yet” (134). Mrs. Quimby says that she has gray hair, and Mr. Quimby jokes that he will still love her even if she gets old. Seeing her parents’ love for one another makes Ramona feel happy and secure, but she doesn’t want them to get old and worry about things.

Ramona is reading The Left-Behind Cat for her book report. The book is about a cat named Lefty, adopted by an elderly couple who feeds it heavy cream. Remembering the cat commercials, Ramona has an idea for her presentation. She asks her father if she could do her report in the style of a cat commercial, and Mr. Quimby thinks it is a great idea. However, Ramona still worries about how Mrs. Whaley views her: “I don’t want my teacher to say I’m a nuisance […]” (138). Ramona confesses to her father that she fears Mrs. Whaley doesn’t like her because of her squeaky shoes, the egg incident, and vomiting on the floor, and Mr. Quimby reminds her that none of those events is Ramona’s fault. Feeling renewed confidence, Ramona sets to work using her creativity to plan the book report. She makes three cat masks, writes a script, and asks her friends Sara and Janet for help.

The next day is Ramona’s first day back at school since being sick. She worries about how her classmates will receive her, but no one says anything about the incident. Ramona listens to the other students deliver their predictable book reports, and she volunteers to be the last to present before lunch. Sara, Janet, and Ramona don the cat masks. While Ramona delivers her speech in the style of a cat food jingle, her friends repeat a chorus of meows in the background. All three girls get the giggles. Ramona briefly forgets her line but quickly remembers the punch line from a pizza commercial and says: “I can’t believe I read the whole thing!” (145). Mrs. Whaley and the whole class erupt in laughter.

After the class leaves for lunch, Ramona stays back and tells Mrs. Whaley that she didn’t enjoy the book. Mrs. Whaley says she probably shouldn’t assign students projects on books they don’t like. Feeling bold behind her mask, Ramona asks Mrs. Whaley why she told Mrs. Larson she was a nuisance. Mrs. Whaley apologizes and explains that she meant cleaning up the egg was a nuisance, not Ramona herself. Mrs. Whaley tells Ramona that she did call her a show-off but didn’t mean it in an unkind way. Ramona admits that she does like to be the center of attention, but not during her presentation. She runs to lunch feeling happier and lighter, knowing the truth. 

It’s a rainy Sunday in November, and everyone in the Quimby household is grumpy. Mrs. Quimby is angry with Ramona because her room is messy, and Beezus is sullen because Mrs. Quimby won’t let her attend a sleepover at Mary Jane’s because she will come home exhausted and grumpy and ruin everyone’s day. After Mrs. Quimby asks Ramona three times to tidy her room, she finally relents and tackles the mess as Beezus sobs in her room alone. Mr. Quimby angrily asks everyone to stop shouting so he can complete his work.

Ramona comes to Beezus’s defense, wondering if it would be different this time and if the girls would sleep. Mrs. Quimby remains firm. She turns to Ramona and says that Mrs. Kemp reports that Ramona isn’t being kind to Willa Jean. Ramona knows that it is her job to be nice to Willa Jean, but recently Willa Jean has been demanding that Ramona read aloud to her during Sustained Silent Reading, and she feels like a babysitter. Ramona feels like no one understands what it is like to be her.

Mr. Quimby is studying how children think. Ramona thinks this is strange and invasive as she would prefer some of her thoughts to remain private. Mr. Quimby worries that he is wasting his time studying when he should be earning money for the family.

Beezus finally emerges from her room, and Ramona contemplates the emotional status of her family. She feels unsettled and anxious worrying about her parents, especially her father. Ramona secretly worries that Mr. Quimby will be locked in the warehouse and freeze to death, and she longs for the day that he has a career he enjoys. Suddenly, Mr. Quimby declares they are all going out for dinner to Whopperburger to lighten the mood. Mrs. Quimby worries about the expense, but he explains that he can pick up extra hours over the holidays.

Whopperburger is busy. While the family waits for a table, a strangely dressed older man approaches Ramona and asks: “Well, young lady, have you been good to your mother?” (166) The question stuns Ramona into silence. She does feel guilty for being angry with her mother about the egg, but she also knows she shouldn’t speak to strangers.

After they are seated at their table, Ramona notices that the man is sitting next to them. She pushes aside her anger over the man’s invasive question and scans the menu. Ramona asks her father if she can order off the adult menu, and he agrees. When her burger and fries arrive, Ramona digs in and relishes the delicious food. The meal brightens everyone’s mood, and soon they are all laughing. Mr. Quimby reassures Ramona that he won’t have to work as a checker at the supermarket again. When they ask for the check, their waitress explains that the old man paid for their meal because he misses his family and he wanted to help a nice family like theirs. The gesture is overwhelming, and Mrs. Quimby agrees that they are a nice family. Ramona thinks that everyone can’t be nice all the time, but even when she or other family members have a bad day, they are still a family, and everyone does their part to help each other.

On the car ride home, Ramona silently pledges to try harder to be kind to Willa Jean and better understand Mrs. Whaley’s point of view. Beezus admits that she doesn’t like sleeping on the floor and sees their special dinner treat like a happy ending to a book.