Sisterly Love

Ya'll guessed it, I'm still on a Children's Lit kick and here we have Beezus And Ramona by Beverly Cleary. I read these books as a kid and honestly I grew out of them pretty quickly as they were rather short (at least this one was with only six chapters) but hey, nolstagia, am I right?

Characters: The Quimby family (with a guest appearance by Henry Huggins and his dog Risby) 

Premise: Nine-year old Beezus contends with her younger sister, Ramona.

As stories go, it's pretty cute, though even as a kid, I wasn't much of a fan of this series, preferring The Mouse And The Motorcycle, though I thought the series was okay.  To be fair, it doesn't have much of a plot, per se.  Just mainly the day-to-day life of the Quimby family.  Beatrice (nicknamed Beezus because Ramona couldn't say her full name properly) has to deal with her younger sister, who in her mind, can be a pain, which is pretty relatable, though to be fair, I'm the younger sibling.

 I liked the fact that Ramona just didn't get her way when throwing a tantrum, instead she would be sent to her room.  That being said, there were times where she definitely should've been given a spanking, such as when she upends the checkerboard that Beezus and her friend Henry are playing on because they didn't want to play the game she wanted or when she stuck her doll in the oven along with Beezuz' cake for her tenth birthday, cause good grief, what on Earth?  I felt for Beezus.  Ramona is a handful.

The only part of this book that I found unrealistic was when Ramona invited her classmates to a party at her house and the Quimby's didn't find out about it until it was actually happening.  Like none of the parents asked their kids about Ramona's invitation (since it was apparently by word of mouth) or even called the Quimblys to confirm that this was actually a thing?  I mean, I know this was originally written in 1955 but come on.

Despite all the problems with her younger sister and the feelings of exasperation with her, Beezus realizes that she does love Ramona, though not all the time.  Aside from the problems I mentioned above, I found the book enjoyable and would probably read it again.  I give it about a 5.