The Complete 8-Book Ramona Collection: Beezus and Ramona, Ramona and Her Father, Ramona and Her Mother, Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Ramona Forever, Ramona the Brave, Ramona the Pest, Ramona's World

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In one of the books, an elderly neighbor lady always calls Ramona "Juanita", and Ramona is afraid to correct her for fear of being thought disrespectful.

Mrs. Rudge had just said can’t. If there was no such word as can't, Mrs. Rudge could not have said there was no such word as can't. Therefore, what Mrs. Rudge had said could not be true. Serious Business: Much of the drama in the books may be seen this way from an adult perspective, but as noted above, it's justified in-universe because a lot of minor-in-the-big-scheme-of-things stuff is Serious Business when you're a kid. Ramona's is when people find her amusing when she is trying to be serious. She also hates being called a "pest," and being told to grow up; for example, Beezus says this to her in Ramona The Brave, and Ramona screams, "CAN'T YOU SEE I'M TRYING!?" at the top of her lungs. Break the Cutie: Ramona has an instance of at least one of these in every book except Ramona's World, but the most obvious instances are in Ramona The Brave and Ramona Quimby, Age 8.Roberta Quimby: Beezus and Ramona's baby sister, who is born at the end of Ramona Forever. Ramona is jealous that Roberta has all her parents' attention, but at the end of "Ramona's World" learns to love her sister. Her middle name is Day. Demoted to Extra: Henry Huggins, the protagonist of the previous series, barely gets any mention in the Ramona series.

Willa Jean Kemp: Howie's bratty little sister, who is frequently thrust on Ramona. People say that she is very like Ramona when she was little; however, Willa Jean does not seem to possess Ramona's imagination. In Ramona's World, Ramona talks to her mom about why she doesn't like Susan, one of the reasons being that Susan gets really mad when boys call her "Snoozin' Susan." Ramona comments, "When boys call you a name, you're just supposed to get a little bit mad and not go telling the teacher." In Ramona Quimby, Age 8, it is stated that Ramona and her fellow third graders are the oldest kids at her new school. However, in Ramona's World she enters fourth grade at the same school. It's also explicitly stated that Ramona's teacher, Mrs. Meachem, has been teaching fourth grade there long enough to have had some of her current students' parents in her class (ruling out the possibility that the school just added a grade over the summer). Hates Baths: Ramona hates having her hair washed as a toddler. Whenever Mrs. Quimby washes her hair, Ramona squirms around and screams the whole time. She gets better about it when she gets older. In Southern California, shortly after the Mexican–American War, a Scottish-Native American orphan girl, Ramona, is raised by Señora Gonzaga Moreno, the sister of Ramona's deceased foster mother. Ramona is referred to as illegitimate in some summaries of the novel, but chapter 3 of the novel says that Ramona's parents were married by a priest in the San Gabriel Mission. Señora Moreno has raised Ramona as part of the family, giving her every luxury. Ramona's foster mother had requested this as her dying wish. Because Ramona has partial Native American heritage, Moreno reserves her love for her only child, Felipe Moreno, whom she adores. Señora Moreno identifies as Mexican of pure Spanish ancestry. She hates Americans since the United States annexation of California following its victory in the war. They have disputed her claim to her lands, and have divided her huge rancho.

Exact Eavesdropping: Ramona goes into Heroic BSoD when she hears Ms. Whaley calling her a "little showoff" and says "what a nuisance!" Later on, when she talks to Ms. Whaley about it, Ms. Whaley clarifies that she meant the raw egg was a nuisance. As for Ramona being a showoff, Ramona explains that she was only doing what everyone else was doing and Ms. Whaley apologizes. The Ramona books are a series of eight humorous children's novels by Beverly Cleary that center on Ramona Quimby, her family and friends. The first book, Beezus and Ramona, appeared in 1955. The final book, Ramona's World, was published in 1999. Two books in the series were named Newbery Honor books, Ramona and Her Father and Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Ramona and Her Mother received the National Book Award. Sometimes known as the Beezus and Ramona series, as of 2012, the books were being marketed by HarperCollins as "The Complete Ramona Collection". The widespread popularity of the novel resulted in jurisdictions naming schools ( Ramona High School in Riverside), streets, freeways (the San Bernardino Freeway was originally named the Ramona Freeway) and towns (unincorporated communities called Ramona in both Los Angeles and San Diego County) after the novel's heroine. Southern California became a tourist destination, as many people wanted to see the locations featured in the book. Its publication coincided with the opening of Southern Pacific Railroad's Southern California rail lines, which fed a tourism boom. [2] This is the only book in the series written from older sister Beezus' point of view. In the book, Beezus is struggling with her feelings for her annoying younger sister Ramona.

Beezus could not help feeling annoyed. Miss Robbins was letting Ramona stay in the class—the one place where she was never allowed to tag along! Miss Robbins would probably like her painting, because it would be so full of imagination. Ramona’s pictures, in fact, were so full of imagination that it took even more imagination to tell what they were. Fright-Induced Bunkmate: On more than one occasion, Beezus lets Ramona sleep in her bed when they're both scared or worried about something, like the aftermath of their parents arguing or the birth of their new baby sister. Not Wearing Pants" Dream: In Ramona The Brave, Beezus mentions a recurring dream where she's at school in her underwear and everyone is staring at her. Jerkass Has a Point: In the last chapter of Ramona's World, Ramona doesn't want to invite Susan to her fourth-grade birthday party, and cites that her too-perfect snobby attitude will ruin the party. Mrs. Quimby tells her not to be rude and invites Susan anyway. Sure enough, Ramona is proven right; Susan says her mother told her to not have cake because the frosting would have Ramona's germs on it, which briefly grosses out the guests. Daisy bluntly says there's nothing wrong with the cake and everyone calls out Susan for her rudeness. Mr. Quimby loses his occupation and Ramona has some awesome thoughts on the most proficient method to acquire some additional cash to assist. She likewise chooses its opportunity he quit smoking, and she’ll help him with that, as well. When the congregation Christmas event arrives Ramona is feeling ignored. In any case, the night she was fearing transforms into a win that unites the family once more.Prone to Vomiting: When Roberta was two months old, she often spat up (not exactly unusual for an infant that age). Ramona herself is also misunderstood by others in her kindergarten incarnation. "I'd like to make Q's." "Make use of what?" She then wonders what kind of grown-up doesn't know what the letter "Q" is. (The substitute, obviously, because substitutes are stupid — so Ramona thinks at that age.) I’ve had Beverly Cleary on my mind for a while now ever since NPR did a story about her (as of this writing, she is 103 years old!), so it suddenly seemed ideal to take a break in the middle of the dystopian novel I’m reading and turn to the gentle adventures of Ramona Quimby and her long-suffering older sister, Beezus. I loved this book when I was a kid and my son loves it now. He thinks Ramona needs a spanking, and I am inclined to almost agree. Perhaps not quite a spanking, but certainly something stronger than, "You may go to your room." I think the mom gets stricter in later books in this series, but she is wishy-washy in this one. A Day in the Limelight: Beezus and Ramona is the first to focus on those characters after they'd played a supporting role in the Henry Huggins books, and the only book written from Beezus' point of view.