Childhood Challenge: RAMONA QUIMBY, AGE 8

I can't believe this is already my 11th post for my Childhood Challenge; that means I only have one more book to read to complete my year-long challenge. This year has gone by fast! This month I re-read Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary.

From My Memory

The Ramona books were a staple in our household when I was growing up. My sister collected all of them, and I borrowed them from her. I remember thinking I was a lot like Ramona--Ramona had an older sister (Beezus), and even though they fought, I think Ramona thought her sister was pretty cool and wanted to be like her but came up short. Growing up, I often felt eclipsed by my cooler older sister and thought that I was just her dorky younger sister. It felt good to have a literary character to bond with. My favorite of the series was Ramona Quimby, Age 8, which I first read in the third grade—the same age as Ramona in the book. I read it on a day that I was sick and stuck at home (as a kid I much preferred going to school than staying at home), and I loved the book so much that I read the entire thing that day. Though I’m not sure how long it has been since I’ve last read this book, I know it’s been a while (as in more than 15 years). Two plot lines stick out in my memory of this book: Ramona and Beezus have to eat cow tongue, and they also cook their parents dinner, which in some ways turns out to be a disaster. Since Ramona Quimby, Age 8 was one the books that inspired my childhood joie de lire, I am especially excited to re-read this book.

After Re-Reading

After finishing the book, my first thought was “Beverly Cleary is amazing.” My second thought was “Man, I wish I could write like her.” She writes all the Ramona books in the third person but through Ramona’s perspective. It is oftentimes necessary and always brave, I think, for an author to tell a story meant for young readers through the eyes of a child so that the readers are able to better connect with the character and get more out of the story. I added the “brave” label because I think it is difficult for adults to capture children—their thoughts, dialogues, actions—and to make them believable characters to adults and young readers alike. Beverly Cleary does just that—she captures the characters. She doesn’t rely on outlandish plots to carry her books; in fact, the Ramona books are based on everyday occurrences. They’re not mysteries, they’re not exploring the wild unknown, they don’t have paranormal or magical themes… They’re real. They’re about life.

In this book, Ramona’s father is going back to college, which puts a bit of a financial strain on the family. Ramona knows it is important for her to be good to support her family while her mom and dad are stressed about paying the bills (and while her dad is stressed about having his own homework again), so a lot of the book centers around her struggle to be a good daughter and listen to her parents and her teacher and not fight too much with her sister or Willa Jean, the young girl whose grandmother babysits Ramona after school.

Ramona is at once an exasperating and enchanting character. The first day at school she meets a boy she terms “Yard Ape” and who picks on her by stealing her eraser and then calling her “Bigfoot.” Ramona shoots right back, “That’s Superfoot to you.” She’s sassy, full of life, and endearing. Her thought process reminds me of my own (both as a kid and an adult)—it is slightly random but completely connected in Ramona’s mind. For example, she is assigned a book report in which she has to sell a book about a cat and its journey in finding a home; she decides to perform a live commercial of sorts to sell the story. But as she is standing in front of her classroom reciting her lines for her commercial, she forgets what her ending line is. She goes to the only line she can remember from a real commercial and blurts out, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!” On the outside, it’s random; being privy to her thought processes, though, it makes sense.

The story is about a family going through changes, a young girl getting used to a new school, and a girl (and her older sister) trying to figure out this growing-up business. It isn’t fancy—it’s real. And lovable. After being enchanted all over again by Ramona Quimby, I am itching to go out and buy the whole series so I can regularly re-read them all.

I highly recommend the Ramona books for readers of all ages. Even if you never read them as a kid, I suggest you read one as an adult and cherish the memories of what it was like to be a child.

"Good" Book, "Bad" Book

What do The Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and His Dark Materials have in common?

We can start with the obvious: They are all books, and, even more, they are all series of books.

But let's dig a little deeper... They are all series of books marketed for younger readers and fit into a fantasy label. Each series features elements of fantasy and, dare I say, magic. Beyond the fantastic (and magical) elements, the series are all, at a deeper level, concerned with pitting good versus evil. While there is this dichotomy, the storylines in each of the series are complex and don't always offer clear-cut distinctions between who (or what) is good and who (or what) is evil.

In my eyes, these series share so many features that if I find out readers like one of the series, I will suggest another of these series for their reading pleasure. If I can see they share so much in common, why is it that some of these series have prominent places on lists of banned books while others are touted as national treasures?

Allow me to back up a bit and tell you some of the motivation behind this post. A few weeks ago, I was visiting a Barnes & Noble, perusing the books in the children's section. I was standing in the aisle, looking at The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and trying to decide if I wanted to buy the book and start reading the Percy Jackson series.

A young girl was in the aisle with me and started talking to me about the book. She asked if I had read it before, and when I said, "No," she said, "You really have to read the Percy Jackson books." She went on to tell me that they were her favorite books and that she was very excited that Riordan had started a new series, one based on Egyptian gods and goddesses (the Percy Jackson series is based on Greek gods and goddesses). This girl was so excited about the books that I couldn't in good conscience not buy the book and try it out for myself.

In the course of our conversation, I asked her if she had read the Harry Potter series as well. Her face became very serious, and she said, "Oh, no. I'm not allowed to read those books. I'm Christian."

I tried not to make any faces or have any other physical reactions to her remark, but I wanted to find that girl's parents and start a serious conversation with them about books and the backlash of banning them. I also wanted to hear their justification for saying that reading Harry Potter is un-Christian while reading the Percy Jackson books (books based on the idea that the Greek polytheistic system is still alive and well and that those gods and goddesses are out sleeping with mortals to create half-breeds) is entirely acceptable. I am dumbfounded by people's ability to label one fantasy book good and another bad.

I'm not going to spend my time speculating the division people draw between "good" and "bad" books because I think it's really a waste of energy. That line is completely subjective, and I am grateful to my parents that they never drew that line for me.

Instead, I want to focus on why banning books doesn't work and what parents might want to try instead. If parents ban particular books in their households, that creates one of two situations: (1) the children will find a way to smuggle in the book(s) and read it/them anyway, thus turning reading into an act of rebellion; or (2) the children will grow up under a misconception that a book--not the reactions of the readers to the book--can inherently be bad. Any book can be used in a negative light. If you don't believe me, refresh your memory on what the Inquisition was all about and what book that movement was based on. Books are not inherently "good" or "bad"--it is how we treat them or react to them that can make all the difference.

I would urge parents to consider a different route. Instead of banning a book, how about starting a dialogue about the book and why you, as the parent, feel that your child should wait until later in life to attempt reading the book? Let's face it--banning Harry Potter today won't necessarily keep your child from reading the books in five or ten years. And then your child might have some serious questions about why those books were banned while others weren't. So instead of waiting for that conversation, I think it's better to have that conversation up front and allow kids to make their own decisions about when to read the book. That way, when they do read it, they know they can openly talk with their parents about the material of the books rather than having to hide the books under their beds and read them by flashlight at night.

I am lucky to have had parents who let me read what I wanted to read and who would openly talk with me about the books I was reading if I had questions. I grew up knowing that I could be inquisitive about books and that books were not objects to fear. It makes me sad to think of all the kids who are being told what to read and what not to read based on subjective decisions. Instead of fearing books, how about we focus on what good can come out of reading them?

Weekly Poll 2/10/10: Books as Series

The poll question from this past week was this:

AS A READER, WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT FOR A GOOD SERIES OF BOOKS?

	Memorable characters.
	A storyline that spans all the books in the series and keeps you hooked.
	Fresh, new storylines for each book (so that any one book in the series could be a stand-alone book).
	Good writing.
	Other.

Of the five answers offered, only two were selected during the voting: "memorable characters" and "a storyline that spans all the books in the series and keeps you hooked."  There was a 50/50 split for these answers, so I'm viewing them as being equally important to my readers.  If I had been forced to vote for just one answer, I would have chosen the second--I like being able to follow a single storyline throughout an entire series of books.

What's interesting, though, is that in my earlier reading days, I preferred reading series that had new storlyines for each new book: My expectations for series has changed as I’ve grown as a reader.  The first series I came to know and love were all series that featured the same characters, but each book was a stand-alone book.  You could read book #5 before reading book #2, and it didn’t matter.  In fact, in one series, the first book I read was #43.  Because the series of my young reading days often had a lot of books in them, I could pick and choose which ones had plots I was most interested in—I didn’t have to read/buy all of them.

As I’ve grown, though, I now prefer series that have a singly story line that arcs the entire series, which means the series won’t have 40 books in it.  Some of my favorite series are Harry Potter (by J.K. Rowling), Twilight (by Stephenie Meyer), Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (by Ann Brashares), North and South (by John Jakes), Tea Rose books (by Jennifer Donnelly), and Book of Swords (by Fred Saberhagen).  Those are a diverse group of series, yet they all share the fact that there is a single story that is followed throughout the individual books.  They also share the fact that they have characters I found interesting on some level--characters are paramount for series since readers have to want to stick with those same characters for more than just a single book.

J.K. Rowling's wildly successful series: Harry Potter

I wondered if this reflection was something other readers share with me or if it was simply my own preference.  There are quite a few series for grown-up readers that feature stand-alone books (e.g., Dennis Lehane's Angie and Patrick series, Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch books), and while I enjoy those, I don’t run out and buy the whole series.  I borrow them.  I enjoy them, and I wait until another one with a plot that grabs my attention comes out.  If I don't like one of the books in series like these, I'm more likely to never pick up another one; however, if I don't like one of the books in a series featuring a single storyline, I'm more likely to keep reading the series just to see if it gets better or to find out how the whole thing ends.

Part of my love for series that have a single storyline is that I can, as a reader, get more involved in these characters’ lives.  When a single story takes four or seven books to complete, I not only have all those books with the characters, I get to watch them grow over the books, and their growth is related to this larger situation, which is why I get more drawn in, and which, in turn, makes me want to own the whole series, even if one of the books wasn’t necessarily my favorite.

Beautiful screenshot from Jennifer Donnelly's website

No one chose "good writing" as their answer to the question for the week, and after reviewing my list of favorite series, I'd have to say that I let good writing slide when getting hooked on series.  The biggest example of these is Twilight.  I got so engrossed in the books that I read the entire series in a weekend, yet if you asked me to sit down and critique the writing style of the books, I'd cringe on nearly every page.  I find that interesting, considering that I have to devote more time to reading series (because there is more book than one), yet if the story and characters are enough to draw me in, I am better able to ignore the "writing sins" of the author.

Once I find a series I like, I can read from the first to the last book over and over again, never getting tired of them.  Well-done series can result in major accolades from the reading world, yet series can be dangerous things.  Sometimes I find myself reading just because I liked the first book and not because I’m actually enjoying the second or third…  Lags can be forgiven, if overall, the entire series is a good one, but if a series has more than just one or two lags, I lose my interest entirely.  I’ve been reading Inkspell (the second book of the Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke) for nearly a year now.  I’m determined to finish it because I really do like the story, but the book has simply lost my interest--I can’t even explain why.  On the other hand, I made it through all three Gemma Doyle books (by Libba Bray), only to be disappointed by the ending.  Now I'm not even interested in reading any more books by authors whose books I could potentially enjoy because of the disappointment from their series.

What series do you enjoy reading, and why?

Happy reading!

"Movin' On Up"

The Mount McKinley of my young reading career.

I can't remember my bookshelves without The Little Gymnast.  The 135-page monster sat on a shelf, innocent-looking enough, and taunted me, wanting to know why I couldn't move up in the world and start reading books without pictures.  And so I tried.  When I couldn't quite make it through, I slipped the book back on the shelf but still pulled it out occasionally to stare longingly at its beautifully designed cover.  I'm not sure why I fell in love with the book--maybe it was my inner gymnast, who never got a day in the spotlight since my physical body would never cooperate and do anything more demanding than a cartwheel.  Most likely it was the cover.  How could any little blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl not fall in love with that cover?  I tried several more times to read it until one day ... I actually made it through the entire book.  It was the summer before second grade, and reading this book granted me an invisible key that allowed me to open a new door into reading more substantial books.  In other words, it gave me a key to start perusing my older sister's bookshelves.

I digested her books, many of which were parts of series: The Baby-Sitters' Club books, Candice F. Ransom's books that followed Kobie from Almost Ten and a Half to Fifteen at Last, Beverly Cleary's Ramona books, and the gymnast books (I can't remember the exact title of the series).  When we visited our family in Colorado, I raided my cousins' bookshelves and read books from other series like Sweet Valley High.  I enjoyed the books I read, and series were especially fun because it was nice to have the chance to get to know characters over time--like they were real people.  And yet, it wasn't enough for me because I hadn't found that one series that could become mine.  That one series that would grace my bookshelves.

That changed one sweet day at a Scholastic Book Fair when I picked up my first book in the Sleepover Friends series.  The Sleepover Friends inspired me to have more sleepovers, try new activities, think "outside the box" when I was stuck at home but wanted something new to do, and change my name to Patricia (the only one my parents wouldn't support).  From the Sleepover Friends, I moved on to find more series, including Lois Gladys Leppard's Mandie books and Louis Sachar's Wayside School books.

With these books, I began my very own collection.  I wanted my bedroom to be full of books--a dream that has since changed into wanting a house full of books.  With those series, I had a full-access pass into the world of reading because the characters had lives beyond one story, and so as they grew from story to story, I also grew--as a reader and as a person.

In the fourth grade, I met the Mount Everest of my reading career.  My fourth grade teacher allowed me to pick any book I wanted to read for one of the Lit Group sessions of the year because I had already read the book she had selected for my group.  I chose Banner in the Sky.  At 285 pages, it was the largest book I had ever picked up to read in my young life.  It was slow going at times, but I made it through (if for no other reason than I knew once I picked the book I had to stick with it).  Finishing that book opened yet another door to me: the door that led to books written for young adults and even those written for adults.

At the time, I never thought about my reading some of those books as extraordinary in terms of being an advanced reader for my age.  I simply thought about them in terms of setting goals and achieving them, which usually came out as something even simpler: "I want to read that book."  Books became more to me than just pages with words placed between two covers: They became my friends, my allies, and even my nemeses.  My favorite books are those that challenge me--whether the challenge comes from its content, style, or sheer length.

I kept The Little Gymnast, the Sleepover Friends books, Mandie books, Wayside School books, and Banner in the Sky because I can't imagine my bookshelves without them; they pushed me to take reading to the next level, making reading personal.  With them, books went from being a source of entertainment to being a part of me.

Happy reading . . . and happy remembering all the books that made reading personal!