[Two in one day courtesy of the ice-storm that ate up a good portion of yesterday]

These books fall into the “making everyday life seem like an adventure” category, a feat that I find even more impressive since it doesn’t have the added interest of being set in a distinctly different time. The Quimbys live an average trying-to-make-ends-meet life in Oregon, and Ramona’s difficulties involve her bossy sister, being teased at school, and dealing with the embarressment of throwing up in front of her class. I always identified more with serious older sister Beezus, but chaotic, energetic Ramona was a lot more fun to read about. Fortunately the early books are told from Beezus’s point of view and the latter from Ramona’s, so the reader gets to experience both.

There are so many scenes that stand out to me even now. Ramona’s burning desire to squeeze all the toothpaste out of the tube. Beezus trying to be imaginative in art class. Beezus and Ramona cooking dinner for their parents after one too many complaints. Ramona’s ill-fated experiences with a hard-boiled egg fad. Beezus’s glamourous haircut. The trip to the Whopperburger. It was reassuring to compare my own trials and tribulations to the Quimby girls’, and to believe that if they could make it through, so could I.