Ramona Quimby Age 8

The following day the sisters put their plan into action to make their parents forget about dinner. They dutifully clean their rooms, eat the leftover tongue for lunch, and help Mrs. Quimby tidy the kitchen. Everyone seems much happier than the previous day, and the peace unnerves Ramona. Mr. Quimby settles in to resume his foot sketch project, and Beezus retires to her room to read. Seeing the rain has stopped, Ramona announces that she is going outside to roller skate, but her father reminds her that they must prepare dinner.

Beezus and Ramona take stock of what’s in the kitchen. They decide to prepare chicken thighs, rice, and cornbread. Ramona consults her mother’s recipes for instructions while Beezus finds the ingredients. They briefly consider ruining the meal on purpose so their parents will never make them cook again. However, they soon forget their frustration and attempt to make the meal as nice as possible.

As the sisters struggle to manage all the moving parts of meal preparation, they understand how difficult the job is for their mother: “How did their mother manage to get everything cooked at the right time?” (93) Finding that they are out of buttermilk and short on cornmeal, Ramona substitutes banana yogurt and Cream of Wheat. The rice begins to burn, and Ramona spills Cream of Wheat on the floor. At the last minute, they decided to prepare canned pears with jam for dessert. They serve the meal on a table decorated with mismatched candles and leave the kitchen a mess, but Mr. and Mrs. Quimby appreciate their daughters’ effort, and the meal is delicious. Seeing her family at peace gives Ramona a contented feeling, and she is even happier when her parents offer to do the dishes. 

Beezus and Ramona’s meal helps ease the tension in the Quimby home, but Ramona still worries about her parents when she overhears them talking about serious matters. Ramona also worries about being a bother to her teacher at school and remains silent in class. Though she dreads going to school every day, this day feels especially terrible; she struggles to eat her breakfast, and her head feels heavy. The Quimby’s car refuses to start, and when Mr. Quimby pushes it into the street, it won’t go into gear. Mrs. Quimby offers to take the car to the repair shop while Mr. Quimby runs to catch the bus for his class.

Ramona feels so rotten on the bus ride to school that she won’t even talk to Danny. She struggles to focus on her classwork, but when she looks up and sees the jars of blue oatmeal, her stomach lurches, and she vomits on the floor. Mrs. Whaley herds the class outside and sends Ramona to the office with Marsha. Sobbing from humiliation, Ramona is now certain her teacher hates her—“[…] but now there was no escaping the truth—she really was a nuisance, a horrible runny-nosed nuisance” (106). Marsha kindly encourages Ramona, and Mrs. Larson helps her to a cot.

Ramona worries about who will care for her since her mother is at work. She tells Mrs. Larson that Mrs. Kemp watches her in the afternoon, but when she phones her, Mrs. Kemp isn’t home. After vomiting again, Ramona dozes until she awakens to her mother’s consoling voice. Mrs. Quimby takes her home in a taxicab, and Ramona works very hard not to be sick in the cab. At home, she settles into bed and sleeps through dinner. Later, her mother brings her a drink. All Ramona can think about is how embarrassed she is about throwing up in front of her classmates. Mrs. Quimby encourages her not to worry, but Ramona can’t help but wonder what Mrs. Whaley thinks of her now.