The girls pay for the damaged book and take it home with them. When the time comes to return the book two weeks later, Beezus realizes Ramona signed her name on every page. Ramona is sad she cannot sign her name to get a library card, so Beezus takes her home and helps her work on her signature. Ramona finds a new book that-unfortunately-also features a steam shovel. At the library, Beezus scolds Ramona for speaking too loudly. In hopes of finding another book to distract Ramona from Scoopy, Beezus takes her to the library, although she is embarrassed because Ramona insists on wearing paper rabbit ears. Everyone in the house is tired of hearing the book, but Beezus relents and reads it to her, making all the machinery sounds. Ramona asks Beezus to read her favorite book to her, the story of a forlorn steam shovel named Scoopy. As Beezus tries to work quietly on a Christmas gift for her aunt, Ramona rides her tricycle through the living room while playing the harmonica. According to her obituary published by Oregon Public Broadcasting, 91 million copies of her books have been sold in 14 languages.īeatrice “Beezus” Quimby wishes she had a normal sister, not one like her noisy, messy four-year-old sibling, Ramona, who gave nine-year-old Beezus her nickname and is a constant nuisance to her. In 2010, the book was adapted into a major motion picture starring Selena Gomez, Ramona and Beezus.

Cleary waited 13 years after Beezus and Ramona’s publication before she resumed writing the series, completing it in 1999. Tracing the antics of Ramona Quimby and her family on Klickitat Street, a real street in Portland, Oregon, the novel also features other characters from earlier Cleary novels, including Henry and his dog, Ribsy. Ramona was introduced in Cleary’s first novel, Henry Huggins, published in 1950.

Ramona and her mother