The Incomparable

33 Epilogue

Phil and John discuss Cleary’s life and legacy.

32 My Own Two Feet

The three of us, Mother, Dad, and I, stood on the sidewalk outside the Greyhound bus station in Portland, Oregon, searching for words we could not speak.

31 A Girl from Yamhill

Mother and I stand on the weathered and warped back steps looking up at my father, who sits, tall and handsome in work clothes, astride a chestnut horse.

30 Ramona and Beezus

It’s the surprisingly in-depth discussion of 2010’s omnibus film Ramona and Beezus that you didn’t know you needed.

29 Ramona’s World

Ramona Quimby was nine years old. She had brown hair, brown eyes, and no cavities. She had a mother, a father, a big sister named Beatrice who was called Beezus by the family, and—this was the exciting part—a baby sister named Roberta after her father, Robert Quimby.

28 Strider

This afternoon, as Mom was leaving for work at the hospital, she said for the millionth time, “Leigh, please clean up your room. There is no excuse for such a mess. And don’t forget the junk under your bed.”

27 Muggie Maggie

After her first day in the third grade, Maggie Schultz jumped off the school bus when it stopped at her corner. “Bye, Jo Ann,” she called to the girl who was her best friend, sometimes.

26 Ramona Forever

“Guess what?” Ramona Quimby asked one Friday evening when her Aunt Beatrice dropped by to show off her new ski clothes and stay for supper. Ramona’s mother, father, and big sister Beezus, whose real name was Beatrice, paid no attention and went on eating. Picky-picky, the cat, meowed through the basement door, asking to share the meal.

25 Dear Mr. Henshaw

Dear Mr. Henshaw, My teacher read your book about the dog to our class. It was funny. We licked it. Your freind, Leigh Botts (boy)

24 Ralph S. Mouse

Night winds, moaning around corners and whistling through cracks, dashed snow against the windows of the Mountain View Inn. Inside, a fire cracked in the stone fireplace.

23 Ramona Quimby, Age 8

Ramona Quimby hoped her parents would forget to give her a little talking-to. She did not want anything to spoil this exciting day.

22 Ramona and Her Mother

“When will they be here?” asked Ramona Quimby, who was supposed to be dusting the living room but instead was twirling around trying to make herself dizzy. She was much too excited to dust.

21 Ramona and Her Father

“Ye-e-ep!” sang Ramona Quimby one warm September afternoon, as she knelt on a chair at the kitchen table to make out her Christmas list.

20 Ramona the Brave

Ramona Quimby, brave and fearless, was half running, half skipping to keep up with her big sister Beatrice on their way home from the park.

19 Socks

The tabby kitten hooked his white paws over the edge of the box marked, Kittens 25¢ or Best Offer. The girl with the stringy hair and sunburned arms picked him up and set him down in the midst of his wiggling, crawling, mewing brothers and sisters.

18 Runaway Ralph

The small brown mouse named Ralph who was hiding under the grandfather clock did not have much longer to wait before he could ride his motorcycle. The clock had struck eight already, and then eight thirty.

17 Ramona the Pest

“I am not a pest,” Ramona Quimby told her big sister Beezus.

16 Mitch and Amy

Mitchell Huff’s day began like any other summer day—with a squabble with his twin sister Amy. At breakfast Amy grabbed a cereal box top and said, “I’m going to send away for the plastic harmonica that looks like an ear of corn.”

15 The Mouse and the Motorcycle

Keith, the boy in rumpled shorts and shirt, did not know he was being watched as he entered Room 215 of the Mountain View Inn.

14 Ribsy

Henry Huggins’s dog Ribsy was a plain ordinary city dog, the kind of dog that strangers usually called Mutt or Pooch. The always called him this in a friendly way, because he was a friendly dog.

13 Sister of the Bride

I guess this is just one of those days, thought Barbara MacLane on her way home from school one bright afternoon late in April. She was not alone. She was walking beside a boy, a very tall boy, but their thoughts were like those famous parallel lines that lie in the same plane but never meet.

12 Henry and the Clubhouse

Henry Huggins had a lot of good ideas that fall when he first had his paper route, but somehow his ideas had a way of not turning out as he had planned.

11 Emily’s Runaway Imagination

The things that happened to Emily Bartlett that year!

It seemed to Emily that it all began one bright spring day, a day meant for adventure.

10 Jean and Johnny

“I have the funniest feeling,” remarked Jean Jarrett, who was drying the supper dishes while her older sister, Sue, washed them. “I keep feeling as if something nice is going to happen.”

9 The Luckiest Girl

One Saturday morning early in September Shelley Latham sat at the breakfast table with her mother and father. Her mother was reading the women’s page of the morning paper while her father read the editorial section.

8 Henry and the Paper Route

One Friday afternoon Henry Huggins sat on the front steps of his white house on Klickitat Street, with his dog Ribsy at his feet. He was busy trying to pick the cover off an old golf ball to see what was inside.

7 Fifteen

Today I’m going to meet a boy, Jane Purdy told herself, as she walked up Blossom Street toward her babysitting job. Today I’m going to meet a boy. Guest host: Elana Gravitz, reader: Shannon Campe

6 Beezus and Ramona

Beatrice Quimby’s biggest problem was her little sister Ramona.

5 Henry and Ribsy

One warm Saturday morning in August, Henry Huggins and his mother and father were eating breakfast in their square white house on Klickitat Street. Henry’s dog Ribsy sat close to Henry’s chair, hoping for a handout.

4 Otis Spofford

There was nothing Otis Spofford liked better than stirring up a little excitement. Otis was a medium-sized boy with reddish-brown hair, freckles, and ears that stuck out. He often wore a leather jacket with a rabbit’s foot tied to the zipper, and he always laced his shoes with the kind of laces that glow in the dark—pink for the right shoe and green for the left.

3 Henry and Beezus

Henry Huggins stood by the front window of his square white house on Klickitat Street and wondered why Sunday afternoon seemed so much longer than any other part of the week.

2 Ellen Tebbits

Ellen Tebbits was in a hurry. As she ran down Tillamook Street with her ballet slippers tucked under her arm, she did not even stop to scuff through the autumn leaves on the sidewalk.

1 Henry Huggins

Henry Huggins was in the third grade. His hair looked like a scrubbing brush and most of his grown-up front teeth were in. He lived with his mother and father in a square white house on Klickitat Street.