sympathy for the tiny person in her mother’s arms.

“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” said

Mrs. Quimby, “but I think you’re right.”

“Growing up is hard work,” said Mr.

189

Quimby as he drove away from the hospital.

“Sometimes being grown up is hard work.”

“I know,” said Ramona and thought

some more. She thought about loose teeth,

real sore throats, quarrels, misunderstandings with her teachers, longing for a bicycle her family could not afford, worrying when her parents bickered, how terrible she had felt when she hurt Beezus’s feelings without

meaning to, and all the long afternoons when Mrs. Kemp looked after her until her mother came from work. She had survived it all.

“Isn’t it funny?” she remarked as her father steered the car into their driveway.

“Isn’t what funny?” asked her mother.

“That I used to be little and funny-looking and cross-eyed like Roberta,” said Ramona.

“And now look at me. I’m wonderful me!”

“Except when you’re blunderful you,”

said Beezus.

Ramona did not mind when her family,

190

except Roberta, who was too little, laughed.

“Yup, wonderful, blunderful me,” she said and was happy. She was winning at growing up.

191

About the Author

BEVERLY CLEARY is one of America’s most popular authors.

Born in McMinnville, Oregon, she lived on a farm in Yamhill until she was six and then moved to Portland. After college, as the children’s librarian in Yakima, Washington, she was challenged to find stories for non-readers. She wrote her first book, HENRY

HUGGINS, in response to a boy’s question,

“Where are the books about kids like us?”

Mrs. Cleary’s books have earned her many prestigious awards, including the American Library Association’s Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, presented in recognition of her lasting contribution to children’s literature. Her DEAR MR. HENSHAW was awarded the 1984 John Newbery Medal, and both RAMONA QUIMBY, AGE 8 and RAMONA AND HER FATHER have been named Newbery Honor Books. In addition, her books have won more than thirty-five statewide awards based on the votes of her young readers. Her characters, including Henry Huggins, Ellen Tebbits, Otis Spofford, and Beezus and Ramona Quimby, as well as Ribsy, Socks, and Ralph S. Mouse, have delighted children for generations. Mrs. Cleary lives in coastal California.

Enjoy all of

Beverly Cleary’s books

FEATURING

MORE GREAT FICTION

RAMONA QUIMBY:

BY BEVERLY CLEARY:

Beezus and Ramona

Ellen Tebbits

Ramona the Pest

Otis Spofford

Ramona the Brave

Fifteen

Ramona and Her Father

The Luckiest Girl

Ramona and Her Mother

Jean and Johnny

Ramona Quimby, Age 8

Emily’s Runaway

Imagination

Ramona Forever

Sister of the Bride

Ramona’s World

Mitch and Amy

FEATURING

Socks

HENRY HUGGINS:

Dear Mr. Henshaw

Henry Huggins

Muggie Maggie

Henry and Beezus

Strider

Henry and Ribsy

Two Times the Fun

Henry and the Paper Route

Henry and the Clubhouse

AND DON'T MISS

BEVERLY CLEARY'S

Ribsy

AUTOBIOGRAPHIES:

FEATURING

A Girl from Yamhill

RALPH MOUSE:

My Own Two Feet

The Mouse