QNPoohBear's Reviews > Ramona the Brave

I distinctly remember owning this edition when I was 8 or 9. I THOUGHT this was my favorite, or one of my favorites, but last night's reread didn't bring up any memories. I vaguely remembered the new room but that was about it.

Ramona is growing up and still struggling with impulse control but better able to keep her feelings to herself. I like how proud she is to have stood up for her sister. That's showing she's decentered and thinking of other people, even if Beezus didn't appreciate it. She still feels misunderstood and unappreciated. Ramona's imagination is pretty vivid and I appreciate her independent spirit. Her teacher is so dull and uninspiring. I feel bad for Ramona. The teacher is pretty awful and can't control the class when they start laughing at Ramona for telling about the hole chopped in her house. The teacher SHOULD have asked her to explain and asked her how she planned to decorate her new room, etc. Even I know how to do that and I'm not an early childhood education teacher.

I also like the episode where she lost her shoe to a curious dog. Ramona shows great ingenuity it coming up with a shoe solution. I may have made myself a slipper like that once upon a time. I love her creativeness and how she thinks outside the box.

What on earth are the Quimbys thinking making Beezus and Ramona split the new room for 6 months at a time? That's so unsettling and strange. I would prefer to stay in my old room permanently. I remember writing notes to my mom like that and then falling asleep against my will before she came home and I could tell her what I wanted to say. Ramona's anxieties and fears will still be relatable for young kids today if they bother to read these books. The incident where she was so frustrated she wanted to say a BAD WORD was so funny. "GUTS!" She hasn't learned to communicate her feelings very well yet.

I kind of like Howie now. He's very literal minded which I can relate to and he certainly seems to have an engineering brain. Susan is less sympathetic. She's one of those annoying smug kids the adults just love and other kids hate.

I did not remember church, sermons and Sunday School lessons being mentioned a lot. I was kind of taken aback by that. It dates the story a little but mostly it's only dated from the lack of technology. I didn't highlight anything major.

I do remember enjoying the series more as Ramona got older and that seems to be the case even today.