Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary is a middle-grade novel published in 1968 by HarperCollins. Ramona the Pest is the second book in a series colloquially known as the “Ramona series,” comprised of eight books that revolve around the family and friends of Ramona Quimby, a spunky young girl navigating the ups and downs of being a kid in school and with her family. Beverly Cleary is a celebrated author of many children’s, middle-grade, and young adult books. In 1981, she won the National Book Award for Ramona and her Mother, the fifth book in the Ramona series, and in 1984 she won the Newbery Medal for her title Dear Mr. Henshaw.

The Ramona series is “realistic fiction” in that there are no fantastical elements and both plotline and characters are true-to-life. Ramona the Pest is set in the same neighborhood as Cleary’s “Henry Huggins series,” who is also a character in the book. Cleary creates an entire universe of characters set in the same neighborhood, each of whom she explores in a separate series. As the Ramona series goes on, readers watch Ramona grow from a young child (in Ramona the Pest, she is about 5 years old) into a pre-teen (in Ramona’s World, she is about 10 years old).

Plot Summary

Ramona the Pest opens on the morning of Ramona Quimby’s first day of kindergarten, and she could not be more excited. In Chapter 1, “Ramona’s Great Day,” Ramona meets her new teacher, Miss Binney, and is immediately enamored with her. Ramona gets accustomed to her classroom, and she identifies two classmates of particular interest to her: First, there is Susan with the curls that go “boing” when she tugs on them; and then there is Davy, the little boy that Ramona has a crush on. Ramona is eager to please Miss Binney, but she keeps getting into trouble.

The next day is Show and Tell. In Chapter 2, “Show and Tell,” Ramona brings her doll named Chevrolet to school. Ramona learns to write her name in Chapter 3, “Seat Work,” and she also realizes just how much she loves and wants to please Miss Binney. When Miss Binney does not come to school the next day in Chapter 4, “The Substitute,” Ramona is sad and decides that she does not want to attend kindergarten unless Miss Binney is teaching. She hides behind a row of trash cans until Henry Huggins finds her and brings her back to school.

In Chapter 5, “Ramona’s Engagement Ring,” Ramona gets a new pair of rainboots, and when Henry Huggins rescues her from being stuck in the mud, she decides that she will marry him one day. Halloween rolls around in Chapter 6, “The Baddest Witch in the World,” and Ramona dresses up as a witch for Halloween but has a terrifying thought during the Glenwood School Halloween parade that perhaps she will be forgotten underneath the mask.

In Chapter 7, “The Day Things Went Wrong,” Miss Binney tells Ramona that she is not welcome in kindergarten until she can learn to stop pulling Susan’s hair. Ramona is devastated thinking that Miss Binney is mad at her. It takes Ramona a few days, but by the end of Chapter 8, “Kindergarten Dropout,” Miss Binney sends Ramona a letter apologizing for forgetting to give her back her tooth that fell out and asking when Ramona would rejoin the class. Ramona realizes that Miss Binney does not hate her after all, and she happily vows to return to kindergarten.

As a middle-grade novel, Ramona the Pest explores themes that resonate with children ages 8 through 12 years old. Some of those themes include the desire to grow up, identity, asserting one’s own individuality, being misunderstood by adults, and the overall shared experiences of being a kid.