Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary

Author:Beverly Cleary
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: HarperCollins

“Mrs. Meacham is mean,” Ramona explained. “If we get all the spelling words right, she gives us hard words and calls them Reward Words as if they were some kind of treat. They aren’t. They are really, really hard words like foreign and quarantine, the kind of words where you don’t know which letter comes first. I think you should go talk to Mrs. Meacham and tell her she’s mean.”

“And what do you think she would say to that?” Mrs. Quimby asked.

Ramona thought a moment. “She’d say I am a horrible, stupid child with bad habits and attitudes, the worst fourth grader she’s ever had, and she can’t wait to get rid of me and she never wants to see me again as long as she lives.”

Mrs. Quimby did not seem upset. “Do you really think Mrs. Meacham would say that?”

Once more Ramona thought before she answered in a small voice, “No, but I’m tired of spelling.”

Mrs. Quimby said, “So am I. So is your whole family.”

“Except Roberta,” Ramona reminded her mother.

Mrs. Quimby ignored the interruption. “From now on, you’re on your own.” She meant it, because after that no one said, “Come on, Ramona, let’s go over your spelling words.” Nobody said, “How about a little spelling before bedtime?” Nobody cared about Ramona’s spelling.

Ramona began to feel that no one cared about her, either. Her mother was busy reading a new book for her book club or comforting drooly Roberta, who was teething, Beezus was either talking on the telephone or doing her homework, and Mr. Quimby was in the basement refinishing his grandmother’s chest of drawers for Roberta’s room.

That left Daisy, who had no trouble spelling. One afternoon when she had come to Ramona’s house, the girls were looking for something to do. Daisy picked up the sports section of the newspaper, which was lying on the coffee table, and began to read aloud as if she were an excited television announcer, “‘Crash! Splash! $25 Cash Back! No down payments for six months!’”

Ramona picked up another part of the paper and read in a stern voice, “‘Stop sneezing! Get rid of dust, mold, and fungus with our duct clean-up system’”—here, a dramatic pause—”‘and keep it clean!’”

Both girls found this funny.

“Sounds like what Jeremy’s room needs,” remarked Daisy before she read in a dreamy voice, “‘Planning a romantic wedding?’”

“Not right away,” said Ramona, scanning the newspaper. “Here’s a funny letter somebody wrote to some people who do income tax stuff. They put it in their ad.”

“Boring,” said Daisy.

Ramona ignored her and read, “‘You J. K. Barker people really know your stuff. I shoulda come here last year, and I’m gonna come here next year.’” She frowned her disapproval.

Daisy was indignant. “They shouldn’t put words like gonna and shoulda in the newspaper. Mrs. Meacham wouldn’t like it.”

“Or maybe we should show it to Mrs. Meacham,” suggested Ramona, “so she would know it is okay to use them because they are in the newspaper.”

Daisy was doubtful. “You know Mrs. Meacham. She’ll march right down to the newspaper with her red pencil and—”

“I know!” Ramona was inspired.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.