Having a little sister like four-year-old Ramona isn’t always easy for Beezus Quimby. With a wild imagination, disregard for order, and an appetite for chaos, Ramona makes it hard for Beezus to be the responsible older sister she knows she ought to be…especially when Ramona threatens to ruin Beezus’s birthday party. Will Beezus find the patience to handle her little sister before Ramona turns her big day into a complete disaster? ( )

highly recommended for young readers. Good author for young reluctant readers. ( )

FROM AMAZON: Big sister Beezus Quimby tries to be patient with her four-year-old little sister, Ramona, but it isn't easy, not when Ramona powders her nose with marshmallows and invites her nursery school class to a party without telling her family. Sometimes Beezus doesn't like Ramona, but the girls are sisters and that means they will always love each other - just not every single minute. ( )

independent reading ages 8-11
Two books in the series were named Newbery Honor books

A childhood favorite, it had been a long time since I’d last read this and I’m so pleased that I loved it as an adult, too.

Beezus is nine years old and sometimes finds it challenging to be a big sister to four year old mischief-maker Ramona.

Ramona is most definitely bratty and attention-seeking and she’d be a lot to live with, but as a reader I adore her, more often than not she’s funny and clever and it’s still refreshing to see a female character who doesn’t remotely care about behaving perfectly.

I really loved Beezus, too. I don’t think I had a proper appreciation for her back when I was a kid distracted as I was by Ramona’s antics. Beezus is every bit as well-crafted as Ramona just in a quieter way. Her frustration with her sister followed by a guilty conscience whenever she doesn’t tolerate Ramona as much as she thinks she should just feels so honest and it’s certainly relatable for anyone who’s loved someone who is a handful at times.

While Beezus playing Sacajawea at school would not fly these days (at least she took genuine pride in the role), otherwise this book has aged nicely, there’s a certain timelessness to it, even Aunt Beatrice still comes off as cool with her yellow convertible, you can totally see a girl of any era idolizing her.

I really liked how learning more about the mom and the aunt’s relationship is something of an epiphany for Beezus as far as her relationship with Ramona and it’s such a real moment, too, capturing that revelation you have as a child where it suddenly occurs to you that once upon a time the adults in your life were kids, too.

Those moments with Beezus grappling with her feelings about Ramona and the subsequent conversation with her mom and aunt bring a really nice bit of depth to the book while Ramona’s purposeful disasters provide plenty of fun. ( )