Beverly Cleary has given books to each member of the Quimby household except Mrs. Quimby. Now she gets her turn at last in a story that hits the high and low points of a working mother's life as seen from Ramona's seven-and-a-half-year-old viewpoint.

Inevitably domestic tensions, not without their amusing side, occasionally arise. Mr. and Mrs. Quimby sometimes forget who is to do what, as when the Crock-Pot is not plugged in and dinner remains uncooked. Beezus acquires a ludicrous teased hairdo at the student body shop while Ramona gets a becoming pixie haircut. Ramona, who feels unloved, takes to twitching her nose like a rabbit in a cozy picture book until her teacher becomes concerned that something is making her nervous.

Yet Ramona is wrong. She is loved, and readers will rejoice with her when she discovers the wonderful truth. Few writers today are as skilled as Mrs. Cleary at showing families in the round, and here she is at the peak of her powers.

Poor Ramona! Not quite eight, but half past seven, this enthusiastic dynamo is feeling one powerful emotion: unloved. Her older sister, Beezus, seems to do everything right--at least as far as Ramona's mom is concerned. So Ramona gloats just a bit when Beezus causes a stink about not being allowed to visit a professional hair stylist, instead of having her hair cut at home. When Ramona's mom goes back to work, and her dad hates his new job, other frictions visit on the Quimby household, making both girls worry that their parents are headed for divorce. Cleary keeps this book hopping, jumping easily from scenario to scenario. Its success, as in Cleary's other Ramona books, is in pulling our heartstrings and making us laugh. Readers will hoot as Ramona squirts every last drop from a new toothpaste tube--just because she always wanted to. We also see her nearly barf in the backseat of the car, and dye herself and her friend Howie bright blue. But it is when Ramona threatens to run away and her mother helps her pack, that we root hard for little Nobody likes me! Ramona. Of course, Mrs. Quimby has a trick up her sleeve: You tricked me! cries Ramona. You made the suitcase too heavy on purpose. You don't want me to run away! Of course not, says her mother: I couldn't get along without my Ramona. Neither, I suspect can readers.