Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Beverly Cleary
 The schools in Ramona Quimby's neighborhood have been reorganized, and now she gets to ride the bus to Cedarhurst Primary, where she and her fellow third graders will be the biggest kids in the school. Ramona is happy about the changes until a boy on the bus steals her new eraser, but she rises to the challenge and ends up deciding the "Yard Ape" may not be so bad, after all. The best part of being in third grade is Sustained Silent Reading. Ramona loves getting time to read in school every day. The worst part is that she isn't sure if her teacher, Mrs. Whaley, likes her. When Ramona cracks a hard boiled egg on her head at lunch- and finds out her mother forgot to boil it- she ends up in the secretary's office with a head full of raw egg, where she overhears Mrs. Whaley describe her as a show-off and a nuisance. Even Yard Ape can't make her feel better about that. Things get worse when she throws up in class and her mother has to leave work to take her home. Then there's the problem of spoiled Willa Jean. Every day after school Howie goes outside to ride bikes with his friends, and Ramona is forced to play baby games with her. Beezus can always say she's busy doing homework, but that doesn't work for Ramona. Clearly, though, she is growing up, as she uses her creativity to find ways to help her family by getting along.