Ramona's World
Beverly Cleary
 Ramona's world is changing. There's tiny baby Roberta at home, and as Ramona adjusts to being a big sister she discovers she likes teaching her to do things like stick out her tongue. In fourth grade now, she finally has a best girlfriend, new student Daisy Kidd. At school Ramona is frustrated with her teacher, Mrs. Meacham, who pushes her class to be proper spellers, a difficult subject for Ramona. Beezus, a 15-year-old just entering high school, starts speaking French around the house, spending a lot of time on the phone talking about boys, and making her little sister mad. Ramona begins to feel forgotten as Beezus, Mr. Quimby, and Mrs. Quimby are always fussing over Roberta. Ramona's rivalry with Susan, her nemesis since kindergarten, continues. Ramona's parents and Susan's parents have become friends, and both sets of parents have asked their daughters to get along with each other. Ramona is frustrated by Susan's perfect attitude. She reluctantly invites Susan to her "zero teenth" (tenth, actually) birthday party at the park at her mother's insistence. At the party, a silly dispute breaks out in which everyone turns against Susan, and for the first time, Ramona feels sorry for her and defends her, showing that she's beginning to be able to see things from someone else's point of view.