Ramona Forever
Encyclopedia
Ramona Forever is a 1984 juvenile
novel
written by Beverly Cleary
. The first edition of the novel published in 1984 was illustrated by Alan Tiegreen. The most current edition had been illustrated by Tracy Dockray
. The novel was intended as the last installment in a series of books known as the Ramona Quimby
series until Ramona's World
was published in 1999.
, is a third grader who is eight years old and always feels that she has a story to tell. At the beginning of the novel, she is ecstatic that the rich uncle of her friend, Howie Kemp
, is coming to visit. Ramona’s Aunt Bea expresses an overly enthusiastic interest in this event. Ramona brags about Howie's rich uncle to her classmates, who soon become tired of hearing about the rich uncle and are convinced that he will never arrive in Oregon. One day after school, Howie’s Uncle Hobart arrives in a muddy, beat up van instead of the expected limo. He also arrives in dirty clothes which surprises Ramona. Uncle Hobart does, however, provide Howie and Willa Jean with presents.
Ramona is embarrassed as Uncle Hobart makes fun of her and Howie while calling her Howie’s girlfriend. Hobart gives Willa Jean an accordion and Howie a unicycle
. Howie’s grandmother feels that the unicycle is an inappropriate gift. Ramona watches from indoors with Willa Jean as Howie learns to ride the unicycle outside. While indoors Ramona catches Willa Jean sitting on and breaking the accordion which reveals a strange noise. After the incident Mrs. Kemp blames Ramona for not stopping Willa Jean from breaking the accordion
. Ramona is upset because she feels that it is not her responsibility to look after Willa Jean. Furthermore, the incident happened so quickly that Ramona was unable to prevent it.
Uncle Hobart confesses that he thinks Ramona is wonderful since she is Howie’s girlfriend, but Ramona decides to never come back. As the Quimbys eat a fish dinner, Ramona relays what happened during her time at the Kemps. The Quimbys ask about Uncle Hobart. During the discussion both Beezus and Ramona reveal their dislike for the man.
Later on Ramona convinces her parents to let her stay home by promising not to fight with Beezus. As a result Ramona tries to be on her best behavior and get along with Beezus, who is going through tough times as she has hit puberty which includes breaking out in pimples from time to time. Howie then pays a visit to Ramona’s house and brings both his bike and his unicycle along hoping that they can cycle together. When Ramona asks her sister for permission Beezus denies Ramona the privilege. Ramona feels that Beezus is being overly bossy. In a fit of rage Ramona calls Beezus “pizza face,” which hurts her sister's feelings due to the acne she is suffering from. Ramona then leaves anyway, disobeying her sister.
While riding Howie’s bike, Ramona falls and gets hurt. She goes home to wash the wound and asks Beezus to help, but Beezus refuses and calls her a “hateful little creep” in retaliation for Ramona's calling her "pizza face". Ramona finds the situation to be unfair since she called her “pizza face” by accident, but Beezus called her a “hateful little creep” on purpose (Ramona had called Beezus "pie face" in other times, which is what she was playing off of when she called her "pizza face"). When their parents finally come home neither are talking to each other.
One day, Ramona comes home looking for her cat Picky-Picky
but realizes that she forgot to let him out of the basement. When Beezus opens up the door to the basement, they find the cat dead. Ramona suggests that they bury the cat to avoid worrying their mother. After burying the cat they decide to pray. The death of Picky-Picky makes Beezus and Ramona closer and the sisters finally forgive each other. When their parents come home, their mother reveals that she's pregnant again and Beezus and Ramona start calling the baby "It" as Mr. and Mrs. Quimby decided to wait until the baby's born to find out if it's a boy or a girl.
Toward the end of the story, Uncle Hobart and Aunt Bea announce that they will be getting married. Ramona, Beezus, Willa Jean, Howie, and Uncle Hobart shop for clothes to wear in the wedding. On the day of the wedding, Howie accidentally drops the ring and Ramona finds it after that Ramona and Beezus became the nieces of Uncle Hobart. Ramona and her family go to the hospital since Mrs. Quimby is in labor. Beezus and Ramona's baby sister, Roberta, is born. Their mother believes that Roberta looks like Ramona and at school Ramona is excited to tell everyone about her little sister.
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Beverly Cleary
Beverly Cleary
Beverly Cleary is an American author. Educated at colleges in California and Washington, she worked as a librarian before writing children's books. Cleary has written more than 30 books for young adults and children. Some of her best-known characters are Henry Huggins, Ribsy, Beatrice Quimby, her...
. The first edition of the novel published in 1984 was illustrated by Alan Tiegreen. The most current edition had been illustrated by Tracy Dockray
Tracy Dockray
Tracy Dockray is a US artist. She illustrated the current Harper Collins editions of Beverly Cleary's children's novels.-Bibliography:* Beezus and Ramona* Ramona the Pest* Ramona the Brave* Ramona and Her Father* Ramona and Her Mother...
. The novel was intended as the last installment in a series of books known as the Ramona Quimby
Ramona Quimby
Ramona Geraldine Quimby is a character from a series of novels by Beverly Cleary. She starts out in the Henry Huggins series as the pestering little sister of Henry's friend Beatrice, called "Beezus" by Ramona and her family. She was given a larger role in the novel Beezus and Ramona...
series until Ramona's World
Ramona's World
Ramona's World is a 1999 juvenile novel written by Beverly Cleary. The current edition was illustrated by Tracy Dockray. It is part of the Ramona Quimby series...
was published in 1999.
Plot summary
The protagonist, Ramona QuimbyRamona Quimby
Ramona Geraldine Quimby is a character from a series of novels by Beverly Cleary. She starts out in the Henry Huggins series as the pestering little sister of Henry's friend Beatrice, called "Beezus" by Ramona and her family. She was given a larger role in the novel Beezus and Ramona...
, is a third grader who is eight years old and always feels that she has a story to tell. At the beginning of the novel, she is ecstatic that the rich uncle of her friend, Howie Kemp
Howie Kemp
Howie Kemp is a fictional character in the Ramona series of novels by Beverly Cleary.-Fictional character personality:Howard "Howie" Kemp is the curly-haired boy who lives next door to Ramona. They are friends but sometimes they don't like each other. Howie is the polar opposite of Ramona. ...
, is coming to visit. Ramona’s Aunt Bea expresses an overly enthusiastic interest in this event. Ramona brags about Howie's rich uncle to her classmates, who soon become tired of hearing about the rich uncle and are convinced that he will never arrive in Oregon. One day after school, Howie’s Uncle Hobart arrives in a muddy, beat up van instead of the expected limo. He also arrives in dirty clothes which surprises Ramona. Uncle Hobart does, however, provide Howie and Willa Jean with presents.
Ramona is embarrassed as Uncle Hobart makes fun of her and Howie while calling her Howie’s girlfriend. Hobart gives Willa Jean an accordion and Howie a unicycle
Unicycle
A unicycle is a human-powered, single-track vehicle with one wheel. Unicycles resemble bicycles, but are less complex.-History:One theory of the advent of the unicycle stems from the popularity of the penny-farthing during the late 19th century...
. Howie’s grandmother feels that the unicycle is an inappropriate gift. Ramona watches from indoors with Willa Jean as Howie learns to ride the unicycle outside. While indoors Ramona catches Willa Jean sitting on and breaking the accordion which reveals a strange noise. After the incident Mrs. Kemp blames Ramona for not stopping Willa Jean from breaking the accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
. Ramona is upset because she feels that it is not her responsibility to look after Willa Jean. Furthermore, the incident happened so quickly that Ramona was unable to prevent it.
Uncle Hobart confesses that he thinks Ramona is wonderful since she is Howie’s girlfriend, but Ramona decides to never come back. As the Quimbys eat a fish dinner, Ramona relays what happened during her time at the Kemps. The Quimbys ask about Uncle Hobart. During the discussion both Beezus and Ramona reveal their dislike for the man.
Later on Ramona convinces her parents to let her stay home by promising not to fight with Beezus. As a result Ramona tries to be on her best behavior and get along with Beezus, who is going through tough times as she has hit puberty which includes breaking out in pimples from time to time. Howie then pays a visit to Ramona’s house and brings both his bike and his unicycle along hoping that they can cycle together. When Ramona asks her sister for permission Beezus denies Ramona the privilege. Ramona feels that Beezus is being overly bossy. In a fit of rage Ramona calls Beezus “pizza face,” which hurts her sister's feelings due to the acne she is suffering from. Ramona then leaves anyway, disobeying her sister.
While riding Howie’s bike, Ramona falls and gets hurt. She goes home to wash the wound and asks Beezus to help, but Beezus refuses and calls her a “hateful little creep” in retaliation for Ramona's calling her "pizza face". Ramona finds the situation to be unfair since she called her “pizza face” by accident, but Beezus called her a “hateful little creep” on purpose (Ramona had called Beezus "pie face" in other times, which is what she was playing off of when she called her "pizza face"). When their parents finally come home neither are talking to each other.
One day, Ramona comes home looking for her cat Picky-Picky
Picky-picky
Picky-picky is a fictional cat in the Ramona series of books by Beverly Cleary.Picky-picky is the Quimbys' old grumpy cat. His name comes from his finicky attitude towards his cat food. He is affectionate towards Beezus but is wary of Ramona because she is so loud. Picky-picky is so picky about...
but realizes that she forgot to let him out of the basement. When Beezus opens up the door to the basement, they find the cat dead. Ramona suggests that they bury the cat to avoid worrying their mother. After burying the cat they decide to pray. The death of Picky-Picky makes Beezus and Ramona closer and the sisters finally forgive each other. When their parents come home, their mother reveals that she's pregnant again and Beezus and Ramona start calling the baby "It" as Mr. and Mrs. Quimby decided to wait until the baby's born to find out if it's a boy or a girl.
Toward the end of the story, Uncle Hobart and Aunt Bea announce that they will be getting married. Ramona, Beezus, Willa Jean, Howie, and Uncle Hobart shop for clothes to wear in the wedding. On the day of the wedding, Howie accidentally drops the ring and Ramona finds it after that Ramona and Beezus became the nieces of Uncle Hobart. Ramona and her family go to the hospital since Mrs. Quimby is in labor. Beezus and Ramona's baby sister, Roberta, is born. Their mother believes that Roberta looks like Ramona and at school Ramona is excited to tell everyone about her little sister.