A Girl from Yamhill Quotes

“returned to the threshing machine. I helped clear the table, and when Mother and Grandma began to wash dishes in water heated on the stove, Mother said, “Beverly, never, never, serve mashed potatoes to threshers. They disappear too fast.” To her mother she said, “What will the men think of me, running out of potatoes like that?” “Why didn’t the cookhouse come?” I asked. Mother sighed. “Because we simply don’t have the money. Most farmers don’t this year.”
― Beverly Cleary, A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir

“For the first time, I understood that I was afraid of Mother for the guilt she made me bear, and that I could never have an honest conversation with her. The woman I wanted for a friend would always be right; I would always be wrong. I have never understood why, for Mother was genuinely kind to others and could be kind to me when I did exactly as she wished.”
― Beverly Cleary, A Girl from Yamhill

“Dad quietly observed Mother’s relentless control over me, and my growing desperation. When escape was unexpectedly offered, he saw it as an opportunity, not only for a year of college, but as a way of ending my relationship with Gerhart. As I look back, I can see that my father, even though I did not ask, always understood what I wanted—roller skates, a hard sponge-rubber ball, a hemp jump rope, a bicycle, and now, freedom. I was leaving.”
― Beverly Cleary, A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir

“Sunday evening, when Mr. Klum left me at the foot of our driveway, I felt serene, sun-tinged, and happy. Mother’s first words were “Beverly! You’ve ruined your complexion!” I flopped into the nearest chair. “Mother,” I said, pleading and without anger, “it does seem as if no matter what I do, you make me feel guilty.” “Why, that’s ridiculous,” she said. Somehow I found the courage to contradict. “No, it isn’t ridiculous. You do make me feel guilty,” I insisted, still without anger. I wanted so much to talk honestly with Mother, to tell her my feelings, to become her friend. Mother stiffened, her mouth a straight line. “Well, excuse me for living,” she said. For the first time, I understood that I was afraid of Mother for the guilt she made me bear, and that I could never have an honest conversation with her. The woman I wanted for a friend would always be right; I would always be wrong. I have never understood why, for Mother was genuinely kind to others and could be kind to me when I did exactly as she wished.”
― Beverly Cleary, A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir

“My reading, secluded in my room with the door shut, annoyed Mother. She constantly talked to me through the door and accused me of being snooty. I was not snooty. I was confused and unhappy, and wanted time to think without Mother telling me what to think.”
― Beverly Cleary, A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir

“Being kissed by Gerhart was disappointing. I had expected a kiss to feel more like the time in Yamhill when I stuck my finger in the electric socket, only nice.”
― Beverly Cleary, A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir

“I did not mind cleaning up my room, dusting, making the salad, but I resented her manner of asking me.”
― Beverly Cleary, A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir

“She told us we must always rotate our crops and never, never perjure ourselves.”
― Beverly Cleary, A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir

“Safely past the livery stable, we crossed back over Maple Street. We usually met a relative or two. Sometimes it was Uncle Fred, my father’s oldest brother, who had a fascinating bald head. After we passed him, Mother said, “You mustn’t stare at Uncle Fred’s bald head. You might hurt his feelings.” How could I hurt his feelings when I so admired his bald head? I once tried to cut off my own hair so I could be bald, too.”
― Beverly Cleary, A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir

“Yamhill needs a library,” she said. “There is entirely too much gossip. People would be better off reading books.”
― Beverly Cleary, A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir

“harvesttime.”
― Beverly Cleary, A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir

“exaggerated.”
― Beverly Cleary, A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir