Ramona's World Book

As she starts the fourth grade, Ramona believes that this year will be "the best year of her life, so far." She can show off her calluses from swinging on the rings in the park; the boy she calls Yard Ape sits across the aisle from her; her teacher praises her writing; and she has a new baby sister, Roberta. But best of all, she has a new best friend, Daisy.

Little does Ramona know the challenges her fourth-grade year holds in store. Not only must she improve her rotten spelling, but she must also be a good role model for baby Roberta. And her mother wants her to spend more time with the awful Susan.

Life isn't easy, especially when she is surrounded by perfect spellers and everyone praises her big sister, Beezus, for being responsible. Sometimes Ramona fails, often with hilarious results. But with the support of family and friends, she discovers something reassuring -- that being imperfect can be perfectly fine.

Horn Book

(Primary, Intermediate)
Although it's been fifteen years since Ramona Forever, only two months have passed for the heroine herself, now armed for fourth grade with news of her new baby sister, Roberta. On the one hand, Mrs. Meacham loves Ramona's composition about Roberta; on the other, the teacher corrects Ramona's spelling in front of the whole class. And thus goes Ramona's year, a collection of ups and downs leading to her tenth birthday: "'That's a teenager, sort of,' said Ramona. 'Zeroteen. That's a double-digit number.'" This latest book about Ramona lacks the immediacy and tart style of its predecessors; Cleary here seems intent upon making Ramona (and Beezus) more typical than individualized. Too, passing references to nose-piercing and Velcro seem anachronistic: the sisters are otherwise untouched by life as we know it in the nineties (is Beezus really attending her first boy-girl party in the ninth grade?). While fans may welcome this Ramona redux, it's disappointing to see how innocuous she's become. r.s.