“Ramona, why do you keep making such faces?” asked Mrs. Quimby in that tired voice she had been using the last day or so.
Ramona took her tongue out of the space. “I’m not making faces,” she said. Pretty soon her grown-up tooth would come in without the tooth fairy paying a visit, and no one would ever know she had lost a tooth. She wondered what Miss Binney had done with her tooth. Thrown it away, most likely.
The next morning Ramona continued to draw rows of three pictures, circle two and cross out one, but the morning was long and lonely. Ramona was so lonely she even considered going back to kindergarten, but then she thought about Miss Binney, who did not like her anymore and who might not be glad to see her. She decided she would have to wait much, much longer for Miss Binney to forget her.
“When do you think Miss Binney will forget me?” Ramona asked her mother.
Mrs. Quimby kissed the top of Ramona’s head. “I doubt if she will ever forget you,” she said. “Not ever, as long as she lives.”
The situation was hopeless. That noon Ramona was not at all hungry when she sat down to soup, a sandwich, and some carrot sticks. She bit into a carrot stick, but somehow chewing it took a long time. She stopped chewing altogether when she heard the doorbell chime. Her heart began to thump. Maybe the truant officer had finally come to get her and carry her off in the back of his truck. Maybe she should run and hide.
“Why, Howie!” Ramona heard her mother say. Feeling that she had had a close call, she went on chewing away at the carrot stick. She was safe. It was only Howie.
“Come on in, Howie,” said Mrs. Quimby. “Ramona is having her lunch. Would you like to stay for some soup and a sandwich? I can phone your mother and ask her if it’s all right.”
Ramona hoped Howie would stay. She was that lonely.
“I just brought Ramona a letter.”
Ramona jumped up from the table. “A letter for me? Who’s it from?” Here was the first interesting thing that had happened in days.
“I don’t know,” said Howie. “Miss Binney told me to give it to you.”
Ramona snatched the envelope from Howie, and, sure enough, there was RAMONA printed on the envelope.
“Let me read it to you,” said Mrs. Quimby.
“It’s my letter,” said Ramona, and tore open the envelope. When she pulled out the letter, two things caught her eye at once—her tooth Scotch-taped to the top of the paper and the first line, which Ramona could read because she knew how all letters began. “DEAR RAMONA ” was followed by two lines of printing, which Ramona was not able to read.
“Mama!” cried Ramona, filled with joy. Miss Binney had not thrown away her tooth, and Miss Binney had drawn ears and whiskers on her Q. The teacher liked the way Ramona made Q, so she must like Ramona, too. There was hope after all.
“Why, Ramona!” Mrs. Quimby was astonished. “You’ve lost a tooth! When did that happen?”
“At school,” said Ramona, “and here it is!” She waved the letter at her mother, and then she studied it carefully, because she wanted so much to be able to read Miss Binney’s words herself. “It says, ‘Dear Ramona Q. Here is your tooth. I hope the tooth fairy brings you a dollar. I miss you and want you to come back to kindergarten. Love and kisses, Miss Binney.’”
Mrs. Quimby smiled and held out her hand. “Why don’t you let me read the letter?”
Ramona handed over the letter. Maybe the words did not say exactly what she had pretended to read, but she was sure they must mean the same.
“‘Dear Ramona Q,’” began Mrs. Quimby. And she remarked, “Why, she makes her Q the same way you do.”
“Go on, Mama,” urged Ramona, eager to hear what the letter really said.
Mrs. Quimby read, “‘I am sorry I forgot to give you your tooth, but I am sure the tooth fairy will understand. When are you coming back to kindergarten?’”
Ramona did not care if the tooth fairy understood or not. Miss Binney understood and nothing else mattered. “Tomorrow, Mama!” she cried. “I’m going to kindergarten tomorrow!”
“Good girl!” said Mrs. Quimby and hugged Ramona.
“She can’t,” said matter-of-fact Howie. “Tomorrow is Saturday.”
Ramona gave Howie a look of pity, but she said, “Please stay for lunch, Howie. It isn’t tuna fish. It’s peanut butter and jelly.”
About the Author
BEVERLY CLEARY is one of America’s most popular authors. Born in McMinnville, Oregon, she lived on a farm in Yamhill until she was six and then moved to Portland. After college, as the children’s librarian in Yakima, Washington, she was challenged to find stories for non-readers. She wrote her first book, HENRY HUGGINS, in response to a boy’s question, “Where are the books about kids like us?”
Mrs. Cleary’s books have earned her many prestigious awards, including the American Library Association’s Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, presented in recognition of her lasting contribution to children’s literature. Her DEAR MR. HENSHAW was awarded the 1984 John Newbery Medal, and both RAMONA QUIMBY, AGE 8 and RAMONA AND HER FATHER have been named Newbery Honor Books. In addition, her books have won more than thirty-five statewide awards based on the votes of her young readers. Her characters, including Henry Huggins, Ellen Tebbits, Otis Spofford, and Beezus and Ramona Quimby, as well as Ribsy, Socks, and Ralph S. Mouse, have delighted children for generations. Mrs. Cleary lives in coastal California.
Visit Ramona Quimby and all of her friends in The World of Beverly Cleary at www.beverlycleary.com.
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Enjoy all of
Beverly Cleary’s books
FEATURING RAMONA QUIMBY:
Beezus and Ramona
Ramona the Pest
Ramona the Brave
Ramona and Her Father
Ramona and Her Mother
Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Ramona Forever
Ramona’s World
FEATURING HENRY HUGGINS:
Henry Huggins
Henry and Beezus
Henry and Ribsy
Henry and the Paper Route
Henry and the Clubhouse
Ribsy
FEATURING RALPH MOUSE:
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
Runaway Ralph
Ralph S. Mouse
MORE GREAT FICTION BY BEVERLY CLEARY:
Ellen Tebbits
Otis Spofford
Fifteen
The Luckiest Girl
Jean and Johnny
Emily’s Runaway Imagination
Sister of the Bride
Mitch and Amy
Socks
Dear Mr. Henshaw
Muggie Maggie
Strider
Two Times the Fun
AND DON'T MISS BEVERLY CLEARY'S AUTOBIOGRAPHIES:
A Girl from Yamhill
My Own Two Feet
Credits
Jacket art © 2006 by Tracy Dockray
Jacket design by Amy Ryan
Copyright
RAMONA THE PEST. Copyright © 1968 by Beverly Cleary. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub © Edition SEPTEMBER 2009 ISBN: 9780061972362
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