The Ramona Series are the type of books that you will just keep pulling out of your bookshelf to read, any day, any age, just because. Maybe it’s because author Beverly Cleary developed the characters so well in our minds, it’s as if they are your best friend. Maybe it’s because the adventures Ramona gets into are so relatable and funny. Or maybe it’s just because these books reflect life. Messy, funny, scary at times, but always coming back back stronger each time. I think what won this book over for me was just how much of a character Ramona was. I can’t even fully put it into words- it was unbelievable. This had never happened with any other book before, just Ramona. She is just such a charismatic girl, filled with spunk and adventure, with such a BIG imagination, always hoping to be excited by the everyday things. Her experiences push her forward, and throughout the books, you can see her growth. During the stories, I would practically hear Ramona’s voice echoing in my ears. It was as if she was alive, and words, just the sheer power of language, had never done that before. I think what also made Ramona such a character was her family. Her sister, Beatrice, christened Beezus, is the typical sister. Annoying, mean at times, and kind at the perfect moments. She and Ramona have the usual relationship, and you can see both girls evolve and change from their experiences with each other. Both of them have their own problems, Beatrice with the drama that comes with junior high and Ramona with the feeling of never growing up, and throughout the book you can sense that they trust each other and support each other more, with secrets or just things both siblings want to conceal and hide. For example, when Beezus went to the mall with her friends, she got her ears pierced but without her parents’ consent. Worried about what her mom and dad would think, she told Ramona what she had done before she told her parents because she trusted her sister- that trust had been built like a wall of bricks, day after day, placing each brick on top of the other. Ramona’s father is a caring, gentle, hilarious man. He loves to draw and at home is a cartoon artist, drawing comical illustrations on her lunch bag, while struggling in the first few books to get a job after he got let off at a agency. When Ramona gets into her mayhem and accidents that don’t always result well, her dad is there to hear her out, give her a hand, and help her through whatever knot she is in. Always. Ramona’s mother is more serious but has an air about her that just makes you feel comforted and happy. She is understanding, just like Ramona’s father and knows what her children need. Aunt Beatrice, her mom’s sister, is always there for Ramona. When Ramona is upset or frustrated with how something is going, whether she feels like she isn’t helping her father, whether her sister has called her a pest, whether she fell off the unicycle her neighbor Howie let her ride, Aunt Beatrice is always there with a joke, or a small gift, or the perfect words or story, that make Ramona feel better instantly. She is to Ramona a one of a kind ointment to the scrapes and burns that Ramona gets. Ramona also builds friendships at her school, and throughout the series, you can see how she grows in the social arena, opening up, creating new circles, and expanding her universe. Her neighbor and friend, Howie, is adventurous as well, and always open to trying new things. They get to know each other throughout the series very well, as in the earlier part of the series, Ramona went to his house everyday after school until her parents got home from work. One part of the book that stands out is the part where Howie lets Ramona ride his brand new unicycle, and he takes Ramona’s bike. Ramona crashes head over heels, and she ends of being okay, but its one of their many adventures throughout the book. They also stomp through the neighborhood one day in the pouring rain, with handmade stilts made with buckets and yarn, screaming “100 bottles of beer on the wall!” As each book in the series age, so does Ramona. She grows up, and matures, and she has different kinds of adventures, not like the kind when she was doing a car wash on her neighbor’s car (Howie’s uncle), and the car rolls off the sandbag and into the shed, where over fifty buckets of paint topple onto it, causing the what was once a black Jeep to look more like an ice cream truck. These are just a few of the adventures of spunky Ramona! She meets Daisy, a kind, funny girl, remarkably like her name. They grow close, as Ramona nears the age of 13, which is where the book series ends at. What I loved about Ramona is that through all of her adventures, she was always trying to make the world a better place, and make someone else happy. When the buckets of paint dumped on her neighbor’s car, she had been doing a car wash to raise money for her family, because her dad had been suddenly let off. Everything she does is because of an outcome that she has in her mind, but more often than not, it’s not what she expects, which is what makes the book such a colorful, unique book that stands out on the shelves. If you like a series in which the characters are vividly developed, have a lot of funny adventures, and are always trying to make the world a better place through them, then the Ramona Series is for you! Ramona Quimby Series by Beverly Cleary. HarperCollins, 2016. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
At the Dinner Table
Often I find myself coming home from school, and being utterly and completely bored, even after an entire bus ride of thought on what I want to do when I finally get there. I put my backpack away, head up to my room, and sit on my bed. And my mind’s seemingly gone blank. So I think and think, but nothing fun seems to come to mind. Minutes pass, and I still haven’t thought of anything. What usually ends up happening is I give up on trying to think of something to do, and I go to check what’s new on YouTube. Or Instagram. Or on a video game that my friends and I play together. Today I found myself in this same predicament, trying to find meaning in what I find myself thinking was pointless. As you might have guessed, it, well, didn’t work out. My mom called me for dinner, and I sat down and ate. My family treats dinner as a time to come together and talk, and even if what we talk about during dinner might sometimes seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, I later reflected that I had had a better time at dinner than any previous time in between then and when I got off the bus. Back to the story though. When dinner ended and I returned to my room, I decided not to get on my laptop again. Instead I plopped down onto a chair with a sigh and tried to think of why I was so bored. One of the constant subjects of conversation in my family is being happy with what you have, and I felt like I was failing horribly at that. I looked around my room and saw all the amazing things I was surrounded by. To tell the truth, I just felt even more frustrated. And then I felt ashamed for being frustrated. What right did I have to be so ungrateful for all of these things? Still in a bad mood, I rummaged through my closet until I laid my hands upon my box of Magic: the Gathering cards. I pulled it out and looked through them, and they were entertaining for a little while. But I still wasn’t happy. I thought maybe if I had more money I could buy more Magic cards, and then I would be happy. But I had no way to make money. I laid down on the carpet in defeat, boredom and depression washing over me like a wave. In my mind I was despairing; why couldn’t I feel any joy? So I began to think back. I thought back over all the times my parents had told me; happiness does not lie in the possession of things. I thought over all the times in my memory where I was happy and having fun. And I began to notice a pattern. At first it was only a glimmer. But that glimmer grew and grew until it became a sparkle, shining in my head. A realization. As I thought back, I realized that in all the times where I had fun, had joy, there were people surrounding me. At the dinner table, I was with family, with people I trusted and loved and had fun with. Playing Magic the Gathering, I was always with friends, people I trusted and loved and had fun with. Whenever I truly was happy, there were people at my side. Though I have been told many times that happiness lies not in the having of things, but in the hearts and minds of the people around you, I don’t think I have ever realized it with such a depth as I did tonight. So I want to encourage you, whenever you are having a rough day, whenever you’re depressed but still being entertained and you don’t know why you’re not happy, to know that it is probably because in your heart you miss somebody close to you, even if they are just downstairs. Looking back, I realize that all the video games I ever downloaded, all the board games I ever bought, they were all because they were a way to connect with my friends and family. In truth, they are the most important thing in my life, and without them, I couldn’t be happy. I might be entertained by things, but they only bring me joy if I can share the experience with somebody else. I hope that maybe one day I will be feeling bored, and I will remember tonight and remember that, no matter what, my family and my friends will always be what truly brings me joy in life. For they really do.
Is Fornite Dying Down? People Have Different Opinions
“Fortnite” has been a sensation in the past few years, but many gamers now refer to it as “dead” as the popularity of a new game, “Apex Legends,” a new battle royale, grows. The rise of Fortnite In the past two or three years, Fortnite took the world by storm. It is the first and only battle royale to feature building. Also, like “PUBG”, the dominating battle royale before Fortnite, it had vehicles. You are also able to voice-chat with your squadmates, which makes communication very easy. Because of all this, Fortnite quickly became a worldwide sensation. However, it may be “dying” down, meaning becoming less popular, this year, as a new battle royale, “Apex Legends”, takes over the world of video games. Why some people say Fortnite is dying The main reason people think “Fortnite” is dying is because of the release of the game “Apex Legends” by Respawn Entertainment. It quickly gained 10,000,000 players in the first three days. However, some people think that “Fortnite” is making an attempt to get back “alive” by copying “Apex Legends.” “Fortnite” has added a “pinging” system to “Fortnite,” which is a system first used in “Apex Legends.” This system allows you to place markers on places or objects, which then appear on your squadmates’ screens. Also, some people have seen weird trucks supposedly called “Second Chance Vans.” A data miner, which is someone who looks at the code to find things about leaks or strange things happening in the game by looking at the game’s code, found out that Fortnite might be adding the trucks as part of a new respawn system, which, like the “pinging” system, originates from “Apex Legends.” In “Apex Legends,” once you squadmate dies, they drop a flag. You can pick up the flag and bring it to a “Respawn Beacon”, where they can get back into the game. In Fortnite, the truck will be the equivalent of the “Respawn Beacon,” and instead of dropping a flag, players will drop a card instead. Why does Epic Games think copying “Apex Legends” will bring it back alive? Justin, a “Fortnite” player in room 27, says, “‘Fortnite’ probably wants to copy ‘Apex Legends’ because ‘Apex Legends’ is getting really hot, and copying some features might help bring ‘Fortnite’ back alive, because these ‘Apex Legends’ features are making ‘Apex Legends’ really popular.” Why some people think Fortnite is not dying But, other people think “Fortnite” has a steady player growth rate, and that it is doing just fine. According to Dexerto, When FaZe Ninja, a famous “Fortnite” streamer, was asked if he liked “Fortnite” or “Apex Legends” better, he said he liked “Fortnite” better because it had “a lot more to offer.” He says one of the things that “Fortnite” has that “Apex Legends” doesn’t is the fact that you can play “Fortnite” on almost every platform except ChromeOS and Android, but you can only play “Apex Legends” PC, Xbox One, and PS4. On Quora, some people say that the definition of dead is where “it takes 30 minutes to load and half the players are bots.” A bot is a fake non-human-user generated randomly by the computer. They say that “even if ‘Fortnite’ lost 100 million players, it would still be a relevant game.” This brings us to the fact that “Fortnite” already has 250 million players, and there comes a time where some games have way too many players such that its rate of gaining players begins to slow down.
