highly recommended for young readers. Good author for young reluctant readers. ( )

FROM AMAZON: Big sister Beezus Quimby tries to be patient with her four-year-old little sister, Ramona, but it isn't easy, not when Ramona powders her nose with marshmallows and invites her nursery school class to a party without telling her family. Sometimes Beezus doesn't like Ramona, but the girls are sisters and that means they will always love each other - just not every single minute. ( )

Grade Levels: 3rd-5th
Awards: Newbery Honor books

independent reading ages 8-11
Two books in the series were named Newbery Honor books

A childhood favorite, it had been a long time since I’d last read this and I’m so pleased that I loved it as an adult, too.

Beezus is nine years old and sometimes finds it challenging to be a big sister to four year old mischief-maker Ramona.

Ramona is most definitely bratty and attention-seeking and she’d be a lot to live with, but as a reader I adore her, more often than not she’s funny and clever and it’s still refreshing to see a female character who doesn’t remotely care about behaving perfectly.

I really loved Beezus, too. I don’t think I had a proper appreciation for her back when I was a kid distracted as I was by Ramona’s antics. Beezus is every bit as well-crafted as Ramona just in a quieter way. Her frustration with her sister followed by a guilty conscience whenever she doesn’t tolerate Ramona as much as she thinks she should just feels so honest and it’s certainly relatable for anyone who’s loved someone who is a handful at times.

While Beezus playing Sacajawea at school would not fly these days (at least she took genuine pride in the role), otherwise this book has aged nicely, there’s a certain timelessness to it, even Aunt Beatrice still comes off as cool with her yellow convertible, you can totally see a girl of any era idolizing her.

I really liked how learning more about the mom and the aunt’s relationship is something of an epiphany for Beezus as far as her relationship with Ramona and it’s such a real moment, too, capturing that revelation you have as a child where it suddenly occurs to you that once upon a time the adults in your life were kids, too.

Those moments with Beezus grappling with her feelings about Ramona and the subsequent conversation with her mom and aunt bring a really nice bit of depth to the book while Ramona’s purposeful disasters provide plenty of fun. ( )