Book #116: Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary

I LOVED Ramona the Pest so we came back to read the first book that comes before that one. I felt like this one was less fun than Ramona the Pest. That might possibly be because the book is more focused on Beezus, so it's from a nine-year-old's perspective, and therefore is way less fun than a rambunctious kindergartener. Also, Ramona is totally wild in here, and rarely gets in trouble for her really naughty activities (like putting a doll in the oven and melting it). You want the parents to be a little more strict with her. But in Ramona the Pest, she is still pretty wild, but you get it from her perspective, and you can see that it's just hard for her to resist the ideas she gets in her head. It's fun and sweet to hear why she just couldn't help but pull the girl's hair. Anyways, I liked that one better. But I did like how this book had the theme running through it that Beezus was worried that she didn't always love her sister, and how it came to fruition in the end and was resolved with stories from her mother and aunt. I loved that part.