I finished this book--and am writing this review--on Beverly Cleary's 95th birthday!

This is the first book in the series I have awarded five stars. Ramona and Her Father is more nuanced, more finely-tuned than the previous three books. Ramona finds herself "the only happy member of her family" as her father deals with unemployment and nicotine withdrawals, her mother shoulders the burden of providing for the entire family, and Beezus dreads her creative writing assignments at school. With all this going on in the Quimby household, Ramona keeps things lively with her usual antics. It is this book that provides most of the inspiration for the recent "Beezus and Ramona" movie.

I prefer this edition, though I couldn't get my hands on it at the library, so I had to read the one illustrated by Alan Tiegreen. I think I still have this paperback edition at home; I'll have to dig around for it the next time I'm back there.