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A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir
Told in her own words, A Girl from Yamhill is Newbery Medal–winning author Beverly Cleary’s heartfelt and relatable memoir—now with a beautifully redesigned cover!
Generations of children have read Beverly Cleary’s books. From Ramona Quimby to Henry Huggins, Ralph S. Mouse to Ellen Tebbits, she has created an evergreen body of work based on the humorous tales and heartfelt anxieties of middle graders.
But in A Girl from Yamhill, Beverly Cleary tells a more personal story—her story—of what adolescence was like. In warm but honest detail, Beverly describes life in Oregon during the Great Depression, including her difficulties in learning to read, and offers a slew of anecdotes that were, perhaps, the inspiration for some of her beloved stories.
For everyone who has enjoyed the pranks and schemes, embarrassing moments, and all of the other poignant and colorful images of childhood brought to life in Beverly Cleary’s books, here is the fascinating true story of the remarkable woman who created them.
Generations of children have read Beverly Cleary’s books. From Ramona Quimby to Henry Huggins, Ralph S. Mouse to Ellen Tebbits, she has created an evergreen body of work based on the humorous tales and heartfelt anxieties of middle graders.
But in A Girl from Yamhill, Beverly Cleary tells a more personal story—her story—of what adolescence was like. In warm but honest detail, Beverly describes life in Oregon during the Great Depression, including her difficulties in learning to read, and offers a slew of anecdotes that were, perhaps, the inspiration for some of her beloved stories.
For everyone who has enjoyed the pranks and schemes, embarrassing moments, and all of the other poignant and colorful images of childhood brought to life in Beverly Cleary’s books, here is the fascinating true story of the remarkable woman who created them.
355 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1988
223 people are currently reading
7082 people want to read
About the author
Beverly Cleary
262 books3,347 followersBeverly Atlee Cleary was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide since her first book was published in 1950. Some of her best known characters are Ramona Quimby and Beezus Quimby, Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, and Ralph S. Mouse.
The majority of Cleary's books are set in the Grant Park neighborhood of northeast Portland, Oregon, where she was raised, and she has been credited as one of the first authors of children's literature to figure emotional realism in the narratives of her characters, often children in middle-class families. Her first children's book was Henry Huggins after a question from a kid when Cleary was a librarian. Cleary won the 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother and the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. For her lifetime contributions to American literature, she received the National Medal of Arts, recognition as a Library of Congress Living Legend, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. The Beverly Cleary School, a public school in Portland, was named after her, and several statues of her most famous characters were erected in Grant Park in 1995. Cleary died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104.
The majority of Cleary's books are set in the Grant Park neighborhood of northeast Portland, Oregon, where she was raised, and she has been credited as one of the first authors of children's literature to figure emotional realism in the narratives of her characters, often children in middle-class families. Her first children's book was Henry Huggins after a question from a kid when Cleary was a librarian. Cleary won the 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother and the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. For her lifetime contributions to American literature, she received the National Medal of Arts, recognition as a Library of Congress Living Legend, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. The Beverly Cleary School, a public school in Portland, was named after her, and several statues of her most famous characters were erected in Grant Park in 1995. Cleary died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104.
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December 28, 2019
One summer, several years ago, I scrubbed my house from end to end, then scrambled to get my kids in the car in time to pick up my mother from the Denver Airport, which is so inconveniently positioned from my house, it might as well be located in Dubai.
We arrived at baggage claim, late as usual and sweating, and were greeted with a half hug from my mother and her immediate complaints about the airlines and the flight. As I held my kids back from the conveyor belt and simultaneously grabbed her suitcase, my mother's litany of complaints continued, but she stopped long enough to look down at my legs in a pair of shorts and declare to me, “Well, I'll give you this much. Your legs still look good, but you're getting older, and it won't be long before they start to look like hell.”
Welcome to Colorado, Mom. Now get the fuck back on the plane.
Generation after generation after generation, women like my mother have been spit out by the universe, sent here to tell us when our hair looks good, when our hair looks bad, when our breath smells good, when our breath smells bad, when our legs look good, when our legs look bad. There's no time to waste on niceties or kindnesses or compliments. (Or grandchildren). Some women just can't get over the idea that your hair won't ever hold a curl or that bangs just don't look good on you, despite your college degrees, your talents, or your well-behaved children.
It's such bullshit, all of it. Personally, I can't stand it when my daughter walks over to give me a hug and I tell her, “Honey, your hair's getting oily, you need to shower today.”
I hate it. I hate it when I do this, when my daughter offers me love, and I give her negative feedback on her appearance instead. I don't ever want to be the sixty-something mother at the airport telling one of my daughters that “it won't be long before your legs start to look like hell.” I'd rather be dead before that day comes, and I'm not kidding.
Beverly Cleary knows what I'm talking about. More than I ever would have guessed. She had the same type of mother I had, and she was terrified of becoming that type of mother in turn.
I had no idea that one of my writing idols endured the same type of childhood that I did. No, she was not abused; no, she was not starving (pretty poor, though), but she could never, ever do anything right.
My eyes filled with quick tears, several times throughout this memoir, but most significantly when I came to this memory of Ms. Cleary's from high school:
One evening, when Mother and I were washing and wiping the supper dishes, she said, “You know, you are the type that will fade quickly.”
Ugh. Our mothers can be so soul crushing. Beverly was never pretty enough, healthy enough, quick enough, beguiling enough or smart enough. Her hair was never right, her complexion always wrong.
Yet, I don't want to give you the impression that Ms. Cleary does a bunch of bellyaching here. She does not. This is, in fact, a story that shines in its honest, unembellished style.
This memoir was, unexpectedly, the one I have related to the most closely in my life.
There's no arrogance or ego here, no name dropping, no posturing, just one woman wondering how you find your way in life when you have never known unconditional love.
We arrived at baggage claim, late as usual and sweating, and were greeted with a half hug from my mother and her immediate complaints about the airlines and the flight. As I held my kids back from the conveyor belt and simultaneously grabbed her suitcase, my mother's litany of complaints continued, but she stopped long enough to look down at my legs in a pair of shorts and declare to me, “Well, I'll give you this much. Your legs still look good, but you're getting older, and it won't be long before they start to look like hell.”
Welcome to Colorado, Mom. Now get the fuck back on the plane.
Generation after generation after generation, women like my mother have been spit out by the universe, sent here to tell us when our hair looks good, when our hair looks bad, when our breath smells good, when our breath smells bad, when our legs look good, when our legs look bad. There's no time to waste on niceties or kindnesses or compliments. (Or grandchildren). Some women just can't get over the idea that your hair won't ever hold a curl or that bangs just don't look good on you, despite your college degrees, your talents, or your well-behaved children.
It's such bullshit, all of it. Personally, I can't stand it when my daughter walks over to give me a hug and I tell her, “Honey, your hair's getting oily, you need to shower today.”
I hate it. I hate it when I do this, when my daughter offers me love, and I give her negative feedback on her appearance instead. I don't ever want to be the sixty-something mother at the airport telling one of my daughters that “it won't be long before your legs start to look like hell.” I'd rather be dead before that day comes, and I'm not kidding.
Beverly Cleary knows what I'm talking about. More than I ever would have guessed. She had the same type of mother I had, and she was terrified of becoming that type of mother in turn.
I had no idea that one of my writing idols endured the same type of childhood that I did. No, she was not abused; no, she was not starving (pretty poor, though), but she could never, ever do anything right.
My eyes filled with quick tears, several times throughout this memoir, but most significantly when I came to this memory of Ms. Cleary's from high school:
One evening, when Mother and I were washing and wiping the supper dishes, she said, “You know, you are the type that will fade quickly.”
Ugh. Our mothers can be so soul crushing. Beverly was never pretty enough, healthy enough, quick enough, beguiling enough or smart enough. Her hair was never right, her complexion always wrong.
Yet, I don't want to give you the impression that Ms. Cleary does a bunch of bellyaching here. She does not. This is, in fact, a story that shines in its honest, unembellished style.
This memoir was, unexpectedly, the one I have related to the most closely in my life.
There's no arrogance or ego here, no name dropping, no posturing, just one woman wondering how you find your way in life when you have never known unconditional love.
September 6, 2023
Why I chose to read this book:
1. I immediately added it to my WTR list (and purchased a copy soon after) upon reading my GR friend, Cindy Sheppard Gidge's review;
2. Beverly Cleary became my first favorite children's author back when I was nine and had read (and fell in love with) Ramona the Pest; and,
3. September 2023 is my self-appointed "Memoirs & Biographies" Month!
Praises:
1. without throwing anyone under the bus, Cleary shares the good, the bad, and the ugly of life as an only child growing up on a farm (which I could highly relate to), and then living in Portland, Oregon during her school-age years;
2. I recognized a lot of "Beezus and Ramona" in her childhood recollections;
3. several black & white photos are included. "Ramona" is the spitting image of seven-year-old Beverly!
4. although Cleary depicts many happy anecdotes about family, friends, and school life that often made me chuckle, I was saddened to read how life at home became quite stressful during the Depression. Her relationship with her mother especially became more and more antagonistic as she grew older; and,
5. as a teacher, I cringed when she recounts how certain educators ridiculed and belittled her attempts to do well in school. My heart did warm; however, for those teaching peers who encouraged creative writing and praised young Beverly's attempts. I also appreciated the teachers who saw value in storytelling and free reading time in the classroom, all of whom led Cleary to a future in writing.
I was in awe when one of Cleary's Grade 7 teacher's, Miss Smith (later to become Mrs. Weaver), upon reading aloud one of Beverly's stories to the class, stated, "'When Beverly grows up, she should write children's books.'" I cried when I read this!
Overall Thoughts:
On March 25, 2021 (almost a year to the day of another beloved children's author, Tomie dePaola's demise), Beverly Cleary passed away at the age of 104!
I appreciated that she shared her childhood in this memoir, and I intend to read her follow-up book My Own Two Feet: A Memoir.
To share a quote from this book:
"(Miss Smith) taught us how to use the library and once made us line up alphabetically by our last names, as if we were books on shelves. After that, I found a place on the shelf where my book would be if I ever wrote a book, which I doubted."
Maybe not under "B" for your maiden name of Bunn, but Ms. Cleary, what a legacy you have left to those bookshelves labeled "C"!
1. I immediately added it to my WTR list (and purchased a copy soon after) upon reading my GR friend, Cindy Sheppard Gidge's review;
2. Beverly Cleary became my first favorite children's author back when I was nine and had read (and fell in love with) Ramona the Pest; and,
3. September 2023 is my self-appointed "Memoirs & Biographies" Month!
Praises:
1. without throwing anyone under the bus, Cleary shares the good, the bad, and the ugly of life as an only child growing up on a farm (which I could highly relate to), and then living in Portland, Oregon during her school-age years;
2. I recognized a lot of "Beezus and Ramona" in her childhood recollections;
3. several black & white photos are included. "Ramona" is the spitting image of seven-year-old Beverly!
4. although Cleary depicts many happy anecdotes about family, friends, and school life that often made me chuckle, I was saddened to read how life at home became quite stressful during the Depression. Her relationship with her mother especially became more and more antagonistic as she grew older; and,
5. as a teacher, I cringed when she recounts how certain educators ridiculed and belittled her attempts to do well in school. My heart did warm; however, for those teaching peers who encouraged creative writing and praised young Beverly's attempts. I also appreciated the teachers who saw value in storytelling and free reading time in the classroom, all of whom led Cleary to a future in writing.
I was in awe when one of Cleary's Grade 7 teacher's, Miss Smith (later to become Mrs. Weaver), upon reading aloud one of Beverly's stories to the class, stated, "'When Beverly grows up, she should write children's books.'" I cried when I read this!
Overall Thoughts:
On March 25, 2021 (almost a year to the day of another beloved children's author, Tomie dePaola's demise), Beverly Cleary passed away at the age of 104!
I appreciated that she shared her childhood in this memoir, and I intend to read her follow-up book My Own Two Feet: A Memoir.
To share a quote from this book:
"(Miss Smith) taught us how to use the library and once made us line up alphabetically by our last names, as if we were books on shelves. After that, I found a place on the shelf where my book would be if I ever wrote a book, which I doubted."
Maybe not under "B" for your maiden name of Bunn, but Ms. Cleary, what a legacy you have left to those bookshelves labeled "C"!
February 5, 2025
When someone lives to the ripe old age of 104 years old, you feel compelled to read their life story in hopes of gleaning something from what was hopefully a life well lived. Like many people here, I read the works of Beverly Cleary growing up. Unlike many of readers, my relationship was a tad different. On the nights that my mom worked late, my dad read to us from Henry Huggins and then Henry and Ribsy. He noted that he read Henry Huggins as a kid and wanted us to experience the story, and this is long after I could read on my own. Incidently enough, my favorite Cleary character is not Ramona. Yes I was and am a woman who loves sports, but somehow I could never relate to Ramona, or my parents never encouraged me to read that series. My favorite Beverly Cleary character is Lee Botts from Desr Mr Henshaw and Strider. I still own those and read them from time to time. Cleary’s memoir has been on my radar for years but I had never gotten to it. As one who could read a memoir a day, I excitedly immersed myself in Beverly Cleary’s childhood to discover more of this magnificent life.
Both sides of Cleary’s family, the Bunns and Atlees, immigrated to Oregon as part of the 19th century migration west. The Bunns acquired land in rural Oregon and took up farming whereas the Atlees opened a general store in Banks. Somehow Mabel Atlee, a teacher, fell for John Bunn, a farmer. They could not have been more different in temperment and character with John suited for farming and Mabel preferring life in the city. In 1916 Mabel gave birth to Beverly, the couple’s only child. She grew embittered with each passing year, especially living on the farm, and took out her frustrations with life on her daughter. As this is a memoir that only encompasses Cleary’s life through high school, a good chunk is devoted to Mabel’s manipulations throughout this time. During this era, the parent was always right and children could not speak for themselves. It was Mabel’s word over Beverly’s even if Mabel’s way was so convoluted that in a different time and place, family services might have intervened or at least required the family to attend counseling. These were the years leading up to and beginning the Depression. Mental health was hardly a blip on the radar. Beverly Cleary nee Bunn grew up enduring her mother’s insults and manipulations.
Eventually Mabel’s demands to leave the farming life won over John who would have stayed on the farm at Yamhill for generations to come. The family moved to Portland, John finding work at a succession of banks and Mabel assuming the role of nosy housewife. Times were lean for the family, more so than others in their neighborhood. In believe that Cleary got the idea of Lee Botts and his mom growing up in poverty from her own upbringing. Thankfully, Beverly had a lot of friends in the neighborhood. She might not have been the most popular, partially due to her mother’s manipulating and frugality, but she had a close friend in Claudine Klum who lived in the neighborhood. The two participated in Campfire Girls, roller skating, dances, and the other rites of growing up in 1920s Portland. I have read much on the 1920s but from the perspective of New York as a roaring decade where everything and anything could happen. Not so in Portland where kids pined for summer weeks spent in the country, in Cleary’s case as a means of getting away from her mother. Portland did have a movie house where adolescents got to see the latest films and also ballroom dancing. Even though the Rose City was and is a larger center in the northwest, it lacks the glitz ot New York. This upbringing contributed to Cleary writing about everyday kids with real problems. She certainly had a lot of her own growing up and new how to relate.
One thing that Mabel conceded was that Beverly was a gifted writer. Ideally she would have rather that her daughter marry right out of high school to save the family expenses during the depression; however, Beverly’s future lay in writing. Every contest she entered growing up, she won; adults saw that she had a creative mind and encouraged her to keep writing. A favorite teacher Miss Crawford in seventh grade who read the entire Les Miserables from memory. Beverly was enthralled, much more so than in her cooking and sewing classes required of all girls of the era. Side note- my grandmother successfully took shop after intervention but that was a unique case. Beverly’s future was as a writer. Teachers at her school encouraged her to go to college because they saw that she had a real future. In the Depression, her father found menial work but at least it was a paycheck. The possibility of college was bleak. Beverly knew that most of her friends and acquaintances would attend college. For her it was not earning a Mrs degree but getting as far away from her mother as possible. I think her life worked out ok in the end, but in writing about Ramona and Lee, one can sense that she had baggage from her childhood all those years later. Thankfully, Beverly, like Ramona, had a father who realized her plight and intervened. The narrative ends as Beverly does leave for college, and I have an inkling that she made the most of her opportunity.
Beverly Cleary passed away at the ripe old age of 104 in 2021. I find this remarkable considering the upbringing she had. Many of the successful people in this country endured a type of rags to riches story and Cleary is no exception. She made the most of the depression years and learned to distance herself from her mother. Another reader, also a Goodreads friend, noted that Cleary’s mother made her consider her own parenting styles. I admit I did as well. Part of me believes that the parent’s word is final until the kids leave the house. This is the 21st century, and that style, while at times well meaning, is not sustainable. At some point parents have to learn to let go regardless if you like your kids’ choice of clothes or hair or potential career choice. If you parented well, you should have the confidence that your kids will make the correct mature decisions as they move toward adulthood. Beverly Cleary’s mother gave her little chance to bloom into an independent adult. That she flourished and became a successful writer perhaps speaks to the spirit of her pioneer ancestors. In that regard, maybe her mother was right after all in this one instance. I am glad to have finally read this memoir of one of the most revered children’s authors of our times.
4 stars
Both sides of Cleary’s family, the Bunns and Atlees, immigrated to Oregon as part of the 19th century migration west. The Bunns acquired land in rural Oregon and took up farming whereas the Atlees opened a general store in Banks. Somehow Mabel Atlee, a teacher, fell for John Bunn, a farmer. They could not have been more different in temperment and character with John suited for farming and Mabel preferring life in the city. In 1916 Mabel gave birth to Beverly, the couple’s only child. She grew embittered with each passing year, especially living on the farm, and took out her frustrations with life on her daughter. As this is a memoir that only encompasses Cleary’s life through high school, a good chunk is devoted to Mabel’s manipulations throughout this time. During this era, the parent was always right and children could not speak for themselves. It was Mabel’s word over Beverly’s even if Mabel’s way was so convoluted that in a different time and place, family services might have intervened or at least required the family to attend counseling. These were the years leading up to and beginning the Depression. Mental health was hardly a blip on the radar. Beverly Cleary nee Bunn grew up enduring her mother’s insults and manipulations.
Eventually Mabel’s demands to leave the farming life won over John who would have stayed on the farm at Yamhill for generations to come. The family moved to Portland, John finding work at a succession of banks and Mabel assuming the role of nosy housewife. Times were lean for the family, more so than others in their neighborhood. In believe that Cleary got the idea of Lee Botts and his mom growing up in poverty from her own upbringing. Thankfully, Beverly had a lot of friends in the neighborhood. She might not have been the most popular, partially due to her mother’s manipulating and frugality, but she had a close friend in Claudine Klum who lived in the neighborhood. The two participated in Campfire Girls, roller skating, dances, and the other rites of growing up in 1920s Portland. I have read much on the 1920s but from the perspective of New York as a roaring decade where everything and anything could happen. Not so in Portland where kids pined for summer weeks spent in the country, in Cleary’s case as a means of getting away from her mother. Portland did have a movie house where adolescents got to see the latest films and also ballroom dancing. Even though the Rose City was and is a larger center in the northwest, it lacks the glitz ot New York. This upbringing contributed to Cleary writing about everyday kids with real problems. She certainly had a lot of her own growing up and new how to relate.
One thing that Mabel conceded was that Beverly was a gifted writer. Ideally she would have rather that her daughter marry right out of high school to save the family expenses during the depression; however, Beverly’s future lay in writing. Every contest she entered growing up, she won; adults saw that she had a creative mind and encouraged her to keep writing. A favorite teacher Miss Crawford in seventh grade who read the entire Les Miserables from memory. Beverly was enthralled, much more so than in her cooking and sewing classes required of all girls of the era. Side note- my grandmother successfully took shop after intervention but that was a unique case. Beverly’s future was as a writer. Teachers at her school encouraged her to go to college because they saw that she had a real future. In the Depression, her father found menial work but at least it was a paycheck. The possibility of college was bleak. Beverly knew that most of her friends and acquaintances would attend college. For her it was not earning a Mrs degree but getting as far away from her mother as possible. I think her life worked out ok in the end, but in writing about Ramona and Lee, one can sense that she had baggage from her childhood all those years later. Thankfully, Beverly, like Ramona, had a father who realized her plight and intervened. The narrative ends as Beverly does leave for college, and I have an inkling that she made the most of her opportunity.
Beverly Cleary passed away at the ripe old age of 104 in 2021. I find this remarkable considering the upbringing she had. Many of the successful people in this country endured a type of rags to riches story and Cleary is no exception. She made the most of the depression years and learned to distance herself from her mother. Another reader, also a Goodreads friend, noted that Cleary’s mother made her consider her own parenting styles. I admit I did as well. Part of me believes that the parent’s word is final until the kids leave the house. This is the 21st century, and that style, while at times well meaning, is not sustainable. At some point parents have to learn to let go regardless if you like your kids’ choice of clothes or hair or potential career choice. If you parented well, you should have the confidence that your kids will make the correct mature decisions as they move toward adulthood. Beverly Cleary’s mother gave her little chance to bloom into an independent adult. That she flourished and became a successful writer perhaps speaks to the spirit of her pioneer ancestors. In that regard, maybe her mother was right after all in this one instance. I am glad to have finally read this memoir of one of the most revered children’s authors of our times.
4 stars
April 5, 2021
*UPDATE March 27th, 2021*
I was so, so sad when I read that Beverly Cleary passed away on March 25th, 2021. On April 12th she would have celebrated her 105th birthday. Her books about “regular kids” have been an important part of my life since I first began to read independently (so long ago!), and I have treasured memories of reading them aloud to my two sons. Proud to say they can still remember certain scenes and quotes! A few years ago, my family and I had the privilege of visiting Portland, Oregon, and seeing the bronze statues of Ramona, Henry, and Ribsy in the park, as well as visiting the real Klickitat Street!
I feel like I lost a dear friend on 3-25-21.🙁However, I know for sure that her wonderful stories will be read and loved by many more generations of children to come.
💜Thank you, Beverly. You will be greatly missed.💜
I was so, so sad when I read that Beverly Cleary passed away on March 25th, 2021. On April 12th she would have celebrated her 105th birthday. Her books about “regular kids” have been an important part of my life since I first began to read independently (so long ago!), and I have treasured memories of reading them aloud to my two sons. Proud to say they can still remember certain scenes and quotes! A few years ago, my family and I had the privilege of visiting Portland, Oregon, and seeing the bronze statues of Ramona, Henry, and Ribsy in the park, as well as visiting the real Klickitat Street!
I feel like I lost a dear friend on 3-25-21.🙁However, I know for sure that her wonderful stories will be read and loved by many more generations of children to come.
💜Thank you, Beverly. You will be greatly missed.💜
April 10, 2021
I was so shocked to learn that my dear Beverly Cleary died on the 25th of March 2021.
Ms. Cleary has become so dear to me, as if I've known her my whole life.
Dear Ms. Cleary, thank you for letting me be part of your made up, but so realistic world. I'll miss you so much!
Are you a huge fan of Beverly Cleary's writing or were you as a kid? This book is just for you.
It's a pity I couldn't say that about a year ago, but then I read the Ramona series. I feel in love from head to toe with her pure, funny, joyful, and innocent writing. And of course, Ramona.
And somehow I guessed Ramona was her childhood, but I didn't know how much her work was influenced by her personal life.
The happy and supportive families for what she craved for were created, but the adventures and school life, some little incidents, financial difficulties... All was there, in her life. In Klickitat Street!
Some parts of the memoir were so relatable to my feelings from my personal life. I perfectly knew what she felt.
I didn't read all her books but I found parts on the pages of this memoir - #Ramona, #Henry, #First love series.
I look forward to reading her second memoir.
I guess this was the last book for this year. I was not at all disappointed. The conclusion had a handful of hope that everything will turn out to be good.
Her constant guide as a writer, Ms. Cleary once wrote in The Horn Book, was the girl she once was: “a rather odd, serious little girl, prone to colds, who sat in a child’s rocking chair with her feet over the hot air outlet of the furnace, reading for hours, seeking laughter in the pages of books while her mother warned her she would ruin her eyes.”
“That little girl, who has remained with me, prevents me from writing down to children, from poking fun at my characters, and from writing an adult reminiscence about childhood instead of a book to be enjoyed by children.” (taken from Beverly Cleary's obituary in NY Times)
Ms. Cleary has become so dear to me, as if I've known her my whole life.
Dear Ms. Cleary, thank you for letting me be part of your made up, but so realistic world. I'll miss you so much!
Are you a huge fan of Beverly Cleary's writing or were you as a kid? This book is just for you.
It's a pity I couldn't say that about a year ago, but then I read the Ramona series. I feel in love from head to toe with her pure, funny, joyful, and innocent writing. And of course, Ramona.
And somehow I guessed Ramona was her childhood, but I didn't know how much her work was influenced by her personal life.
The happy and supportive families for what she craved for were created, but the adventures and school life, some little incidents, financial difficulties... All was there, in her life. In Klickitat Street!
Some parts of the memoir were so relatable to my feelings from my personal life. I perfectly knew what she felt.
I didn't read all her books but I found parts on the pages of this memoir - #Ramona, #Henry, #First love series.
I look forward to reading her second memoir.
I guess this was the last book for this year. I was not at all disappointed. The conclusion had a handful of hope that everything will turn out to be good.
Her constant guide as a writer, Ms. Cleary once wrote in The Horn Book, was the girl she once was: “a rather odd, serious little girl, prone to colds, who sat in a child’s rocking chair with her feet over the hot air outlet of the furnace, reading for hours, seeking laughter in the pages of books while her mother warned her she would ruin her eyes.”
“That little girl, who has remained with me, prevents me from writing down to children, from poking fun at my characters, and from writing an adult reminiscence about childhood instead of a book to be enjoyed by children.” (taken from Beverly Cleary's obituary in NY Times)
August 14, 2020
Proves what I have long suspected: Beverly Cleary IS Ramona Quimby!
But furthermore, this book is just a dang delight, especially for fans of Cleary's work. It's not just that you can see the inspiration for her stories here (the dawnzerly light! the embarrassing wool underwear!), but that she is such a great writer and had such an interesting childhood. I mean, she's STILL ALIVE as of right now (July 2020), and her earliest memory is of WWI ending . . . when she was four! Stories of her pioneer ancestors, her own family's struggles during the Depression, are intermixed with her humorous outlook on life and the usual hijinks of a spunky, intelligent child. I simply could not put it down, and keep reading bits aloud out of context to my family. I can't wait to see what happens next in My Own Two Feet!
But furthermore, this book is just a dang delight, especially for fans of Cleary's work. It's not just that you can see the inspiration for her stories here (the dawnzerly light! the embarrassing wool underwear!), but that she is such a great writer and had such an interesting childhood. I mean, she's STILL ALIVE as of right now (July 2020), and her earliest memory is of WWI ending . . . when she was four! Stories of her pioneer ancestors, her own family's struggles during the Depression, are intermixed with her humorous outlook on life and the usual hijinks of a spunky, intelligent child. I simply could not put it down, and keep reading bits aloud out of context to my family. I can't wait to see what happens next in My Own Two Feet!
March 27, 2023
Such a remarkable story! I really liked how so much was presented from her perspective during childhood and how it affected her. There were several references to her learning how Jesus loved her during Sunday school, the cute part where she would have preferred singing "rousing hymns such as Bringing in the Sheaves " than the slow school songs ;), the church library, teachers who talked about God, how while in hospital when she saw a picture of Jesus with a bleeding heart was so different from the Jesus she grew up learning about as he loved children so much ,wanting them to come to him and gather around they did.
She had gone from a country girl without any fear to one with fear as she moved to a city...she writes about adults would sometimes talk about a child as he or she wasn't there or didn't have any feeling sure. It was a very insightful look into her life but pitiful with the contentious relationship she and her mother had unfortunately. She stated how her mother had only kissed her once I think and never complimented nor encouraged her....and worse, didn't tell her she loved her! She noticed that absence especially seeing her friend's mother do so as spent time elsewhere....As a mother, I can't imagine not hugging nor expressing any love for my children....
Overall, a special book as she has been an absolute favourite author of mine since childhood having enjoyed all the Ramona, Ribsy, and others stories :D
She had gone from a country girl without any fear to one with fear as she moved to a city...she writes about adults would sometimes talk about a child as he or she wasn't there or didn't have any feeling sure. It was a very insightful look into her life but pitiful with the contentious relationship she and her mother had unfortunately. She stated how her mother had only kissed her once I think and never complimented nor encouraged her....and worse, didn't tell her she loved her! She noticed that absence especially seeing her friend's mother do so as spent time elsewhere....As a mother, I can't imagine not hugging nor expressing any love for my children....
Overall, a special book as she has been an absolute favourite author of mine since childhood having enjoyed all the Ramona, Ribsy, and others stories :D
July 20, 2025
Very few of us bookworms don't know who Beverly Cleary is. The creator of childhood favorites like Ramona and Henry Huggins and Strider. This is her own story of growing up, her early years spent on the family farm until the family moved to Portland, Oregon when she was six. Her mother grew increasingly neurotic and controlling, and her father was an unhappy, disappointed man, but defied his wife when it was most important to Beverly, enabling her to leave home and attend college in California. This memoir ends with her waving goodbye from the train, but never fear, there is another volume which picks up at that point, and I intend to pick up immediately as well.
September 16, 2014
Although it's difficult to tell what age group she is writing this book for, Beverly does an excellent job telling the story of her youth with honesty. Clearly she and her mother had a complicated relationship, and when needed, her quiet dad gave her the gumption to get out of dodge and begin her future. I loved reading this in the summer and the book was most interesting describing how the teenagers and their families survived the great depression. I yearn for the simpler time when teenagers were happy dancing, talking, walking and playing music. Seems like none of that holds any interest for the kids of today...
June 27, 2020
I couldn’t put this book down! I’m not sure why but there is a vivacity that kept me glued to the book. I’ve handed this book out for years to fill the “I need an autobiography” request but never read it. The first thing I did before starting was to check if she is still alive: as of this date, June 27, 2020, she is! 104 years old! I was really worried the book would show unacceptable signs of its age but there was nothing that I noticed, other than absolutely no recognition of the dances and movies of the 30s. Now, on to her sequel autobiography! Highly recommended for interesting autobiography, which is hard to find.
June 12, 2021
Many of us (of a certain age) remember reading Beverly Cleary books at a young age. This wonderful author is hugely responsible for my love of books and reading. A very astute librarian started me on Ramona and Beezus books when I was about 7. Late 1950s! I read the whole series and then started all over again. And maybe again after that.
I never knew much about this wonderful lady until recently when I discovered that she had written her memoirs. Her book starts way back with her homesteading ancestors making their way west to Oregon. The first few chapters are about this, and honestly, I found it a little boring. I was waiting to hear about Beverly, herself, as a little girl.
And, then it began. Beverly was a very intelligent, opinionated (even at a young age) and stubborn little girl. This is not meant to be negative, this is just who she was. Her family life was not loving or affectionate. It was adequate. I think her parents really did love her but did not know how to express themselves. When Beverly showed and interest in writing while in grade school, her teacher encouraged her. Then, the next year with a different teacher, she was told her writing was too descriptive. So, young Beverly chose to never be overly descriptive again.
At some point, her mother tells her funny writing is best. And, so it was. That fact is evident in this book and the children's books. The best advice Beverly's mother gave her, as a teenager was: Never play leapfrog with boys, they might look up.
Her last years in high school were not particularly happy ones. Beverly was stuck with a boyfriend because her mother liked him. The strife between Beverly and her mother deepened. All she wanted was her mother to show love and affection.
The book was written in simple language. No flowery words or phrases or descriptions. I loved hearing about Beverly's childhood and teen years. I love the fact that she nurtured her writing talent from an early age. And, even more, I loved the fact that she decided to write children’s books.
Beverly Cleary was born in 1916 and celebrated her 104th birthday this year. I wish this dear lady all the best. She provided joy in my childhood and set the bar high for reading good books for the rest of my life.
I never knew much about this wonderful lady until recently when I discovered that she had written her memoirs. Her book starts way back with her homesteading ancestors making their way west to Oregon. The first few chapters are about this, and honestly, I found it a little boring. I was waiting to hear about Beverly, herself, as a little girl.
And, then it began. Beverly was a very intelligent, opinionated (even at a young age) and stubborn little girl. This is not meant to be negative, this is just who she was. Her family life was not loving or affectionate. It was adequate. I think her parents really did love her but did not know how to express themselves. When Beverly showed and interest in writing while in grade school, her teacher encouraged her. Then, the next year with a different teacher, she was told her writing was too descriptive. So, young Beverly chose to never be overly descriptive again.
At some point, her mother tells her funny writing is best. And, so it was. That fact is evident in this book and the children's books. The best advice Beverly's mother gave her, as a teenager was: Never play leapfrog with boys, they might look up.
Her last years in high school were not particularly happy ones. Beverly was stuck with a boyfriend because her mother liked him. The strife between Beverly and her mother deepened. All she wanted was her mother to show love and affection.
The book was written in simple language. No flowery words or phrases or descriptions. I loved hearing about Beverly's childhood and teen years. I love the fact that she nurtured her writing talent from an early age. And, even more, I loved the fact that she decided to write children’s books.
Beverly Cleary was born in 1916 and celebrated her 104th birthday this year. I wish this dear lady all the best. She provided joy in my childhood and set the bar high for reading good books for the rest of my life.
September 3, 2021
4.9 🌟 I love a good memoir! Beverly gives an in-depth look at her childhood through high school graduation. (I would love to know the next part!) I like how she wrote so chronologically through every grade. It makes me want to write everything down that I remember from elementary school!😜 She was quite a spunky child- climbing out windows onto the roof of their second story home, and putting her finger in the electrical socket at a friend’s house because she was curious. I’m sure a lot of her Ramona stories are inspired by her own life. 😆
She had a unique life growing up in the Depression and with an overbearing mother. 😟 She is open and honest about hard things and unpleasant situations she experienced. Yet she persevered and became a beloved children’s author.
Ready to revisit some of her books now!🤓
She had a unique life growing up in the Depression and with an overbearing mother. 😟 She is open and honest about hard things and unpleasant situations she experienced. Yet she persevered and became a beloved children’s author.
Ready to revisit some of her books now!🤓
June 17, 2018
After starting Beverly Cleary's Henry Huggins with my kids, I decided to find a biography on her. I found this autobiography chronicling her life from her earliest memories to her high school graduation.
Her childhood spent on her family farm was nothing short but idyllic. Flowers. Farm life. Books. She spends some considerable time describing her pioneer ancestors, who are repeatedly brought up throughout her life as inspiration when things get tough. Her early depictions of herself remind me much of what I recall from the type of child Ramona was.
Cleary's youth was haunted by mainly school. She did not like school at first, finding the teachers rude and mean. I laughed at many points where she described the classroom, saying back in those days, that parents always sided with the teacher. This book was written in 1988, and I laughed because this is the criticism of the day, 30 years later of parents today - that we side with the student. Well Cleary certainly believed it was already that way in 1988!!
There were very many sad moments that Cleary describes with her mother. She talks, with sadness, about her friend's mother who hugs, kisses, and vocalizes her love. Comparatively, her mother never does these things with her. Cleary also senses a closeness between her girlfriends and their mothers. Something Cleary wishes she had. As she gets older, she feels that her mother merely uses her as a means to relive her youth, becoming very controlling. Cleary makes many of her decisions based on whether it will please her mother or not.
Aside from this, Cleary does share, at one point, a bit of advice her mother gives her. She tells Cleary that simple writing is the best. Cleary is a very simple writer and often does not go into extra details. I feel this is why children and adults enjoy her reading. Cleary allows the reader to use their imagination.. something Cleary confesses her mother insisted she used but rarely gave her the opportunity to do so.
I thoroughly enjoyed Cleary's account of her life. Her honest portrayals provided an array of emotions - happiness, sadness, worry, and relief. All things that good writing brings out of a reader.
Her childhood spent on her family farm was nothing short but idyllic. Flowers. Farm life. Books. She spends some considerable time describing her pioneer ancestors, who are repeatedly brought up throughout her life as inspiration when things get tough. Her early depictions of herself remind me much of what I recall from the type of child Ramona was.
Cleary's youth was haunted by mainly school. She did not like school at first, finding the teachers rude and mean. I laughed at many points where she described the classroom, saying back in those days, that parents always sided with the teacher. This book was written in 1988, and I laughed because this is the criticism of the day, 30 years later of parents today - that we side with the student. Well Cleary certainly believed it was already that way in 1988!!
There were very many sad moments that Cleary describes with her mother. She talks, with sadness, about her friend's mother who hugs, kisses, and vocalizes her love. Comparatively, her mother never does these things with her. Cleary also senses a closeness between her girlfriends and their mothers. Something Cleary wishes she had. As she gets older, she feels that her mother merely uses her as a means to relive her youth, becoming very controlling. Cleary makes many of her decisions based on whether it will please her mother or not.
Aside from this, Cleary does share, at one point, a bit of advice her mother gives her. She tells Cleary that simple writing is the best. Cleary is a very simple writer and often does not go into extra details. I feel this is why children and adults enjoy her reading. Cleary allows the reader to use their imagination.. something Cleary confesses her mother insisted she used but rarely gave her the opportunity to do so.
I thoroughly enjoyed Cleary's account of her life. Her honest portrayals provided an array of emotions - happiness, sadness, worry, and relief. All things that good writing brings out of a reader.
August 2, 2017
This is the first half of Beverly Cleary's autobiography. It tells of her early childhood on a farm in Yamhill, Oregan and then her family's move to Portland before the depression. An only child, she describes her school, learning to read, her early memories of writing, and her fraught relationship with her mother. The book ends with her high school graduation and her journey to (home of earthquakes!) California to attend junior college. She wrote another book called My Own Two Feet, and now I want to read that because she is such a good writer and I wonder how it went in California for her. How she met her husband and started writing, etc . .
There are so many incidents in Beverly Cleary's life that show up in her stories. She was small and energetic and inquisitive like Ramona. Her father lost his job during the depression and she covers the stress the whole family feels in Ramona's Father. She vividly remembers the triumphs and humiliations of elementary school, junior high and high school. I don't know if Fifteen or Sister of the Bride or Jean and Johnny were as popular as the Henry or Ramona books but I remember loving them. Especially Fifteen when the heroine gets her nice guy. It's no coincidence that the Beverly started "dating" (going to dances, having a boy drop in for snacks) at fifteen.
Unfortunately, the guy her mother encouraged, wasn't all that nice and Beverly never really liked him. There was another incident of a "funny uncle" that never made it into her books - but it was refreshing to see her talk so candidly about not keeping kids in the dark.
There were so many of her stories that reminded me of my grandmother's stories of the Depression. Everything was grim, grim, grim and then suddenly the circus came to town and they watched the parade for free or the berries ripened and someone had a quart of cream to share. It does make you realize what a stressful time that was for everyone.
This is at Open Library if you're interested. Highly recommended.
There are so many incidents in Beverly Cleary's life that show up in her stories. She was small and energetic and inquisitive like Ramona. Her father lost his job during the depression and she covers the stress the whole family feels in Ramona's Father. She vividly remembers the triumphs and humiliations of elementary school, junior high and high school. I don't know if Fifteen or Sister of the Bride or Jean and Johnny were as popular as the Henry or Ramona books but I remember loving them. Especially Fifteen when the heroine gets her nice guy. It's no coincidence that the Beverly started "dating" (going to dances, having a boy drop in for snacks) at fifteen.
Unfortunately, the guy her mother encouraged, wasn't all that nice and Beverly never really liked him. There was another incident of a "funny uncle" that never made it into her books - but it was refreshing to see her talk so candidly about not keeping kids in the dark.
There were so many of her stories that reminded me of my grandmother's stories of the Depression. Everything was grim, grim, grim and then suddenly the circus came to town and they watched the parade for free or the berries ripened and someone had a quart of cream to share. It does make you realize what a stressful time that was for everyone.
This is at Open Library if you're interested. Highly recommended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 20, 2019
A Girl from Yamhill is the first of two memoirs children's author Beverly Cleary wrote about her early life. It was my nonfiction pick for #MiddleGradeMarch over on Instagram. Interestingly though, after reading it, I'm questioning whether it's middle grade after all! Compared with her humorous tales of everyday life with Henry, Beezus, and Ramona on Klickitat Street, Cleary's childhood during the Great Depression is darker and sadder. There is still humor, of course, but her memoir is more realistic than idealistic in its worldview. Despite subject headings on the copyright page labeling it "juvenile nonfiction" it's as though the memoir is really written for those who loved her fiction books as kids to read once they've grown up.
The most fascinating thing for me was learning how many of the events and relationships in Cleary's novels were drawn from real life experiences. Though Cleary rarely comes out and states how a real life event influenced a fictional one, many of the connections are very obvious. I also found it interesting that Cleary had neither the supportive, loving mother nor the exasperating older sister which appear in the Ramona books.
I would definitely exercise caution in sharing this book with kids under 12. There are quite a few topics covered that require a bit or maturity to handle, including a miscarriage, an uncle who makes sexual advances, and a much older boyfriend whose unsettling presence is encouraged by Cleary's mother. Beverly Clearly handles these things tastefully, but she also doesn't shy away from the truth of the impact of these events on her well-being.
For me, though, this was a clear five-star read. I'm eagerly anticipating reading the follow-up memoir, My Own Two Feet (1995).
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
The most fascinating thing for me was learning how many of the events and relationships in Cleary's novels were drawn from real life experiences. Though Cleary rarely comes out and states how a real life event influenced a fictional one, many of the connections are very obvious. I also found it interesting that Cleary had neither the supportive, loving mother nor the exasperating older sister which appear in the Ramona books.
I would definitely exercise caution in sharing this book with kids under 12. There are quite a few topics covered that require a bit or maturity to handle, including a miscarriage, an uncle who makes sexual advances, and a much older boyfriend whose unsettling presence is encouraged by Cleary's mother. Beverly Clearly handles these things tastefully, but she also doesn't shy away from the truth of the impact of these events on her well-being.
For me, though, this was a clear five-star read. I'm eagerly anticipating reading the follow-up memoir, My Own Two Feet (1995).
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
July 27, 2010
Sometimes I mark a book I love "as read" but then don't write a full review. I always vow later to come back and finish it. I rarely do, so I'm happy I have the chance to do right by this book:)
I've been rereading the famous Ramona books to my kids. My oldest son has global delays and has some difficulty following verbal information. Something about Beverly Cleary's writing captures him. He retains and understands far more of the Romona books than any other books we've ever tried.
Her autobiography illuminates the experiences that give her the ability to paint childhood in a way children recognize as authentic. Growing up she had a quiet sympathetic father and a distant slightly neurotic mother. Although she loved her mother she could never quite understand how to please her. This gave her a great deal of empathy for children struggling to understand the rules of an adult world.
This book is just the first half of a two volume set. It covers her early childhood to around the end of High School. I love not just her quick wit but all the lovely historical details that come from someone writing about a time period that they lived through.
Even if you never touch any of her fiction this work is completely worth the time.
I've been rereading the famous Ramona books to my kids. My oldest son has global delays and has some difficulty following verbal information. Something about Beverly Cleary's writing captures him. He retains and understands far more of the Romona books than any other books we've ever tried.
Her autobiography illuminates the experiences that give her the ability to paint childhood in a way children recognize as authentic. Growing up she had a quiet sympathetic father and a distant slightly neurotic mother. Although she loved her mother she could never quite understand how to please her. This gave her a great deal of empathy for children struggling to understand the rules of an adult world.
This book is just the first half of a two volume set. It covers her early childhood to around the end of High School. I love not just her quick wit but all the lovely historical details that come from someone writing about a time period that they lived through.
Even if you never touch any of her fiction this work is completely worth the time.
April 9, 2012
Like so many girls from my generation, my childhood memories are inescapably linked with Beverly Cleary's books. I remember Ramona's escapades better than I remember some of my own. Ellen Tebbits, Henry Huggins, Beezus, and Ramona were all my friends and still seem real to me. When I was 8 or 9 I wrote Beverly Cleary a letter, and she wrote back! And she didn't just send a form letter--it was a handwritten card which directly referenced the letter I had sent. Getting that card was a highlight of my young life; I still have it somewhere.
When I saw that she had written an autobiography, I dropped everything to read it. (D.E.A.R.--am I remembering that correctly?) It was a heartwarming memoir of a girl born during World War I. When I think of things like Prohibition and the Depression I usually think of them as distant events, but they're within Beverly Cleary's living memory. She talks about the good and the bad: games with neighbourhood kids (which will sound familiar to anyone who's read the Ramona books), fights with her mother, school, her father's unemployment during the Depression, and so on.
Worth reading!
When I saw that she had written an autobiography, I dropped everything to read it. (D.E.A.R.--am I remembering that correctly?) It was a heartwarming memoir of a girl born during World War I. When I think of things like Prohibition and the Depression I usually think of them as distant events, but they're within Beverly Cleary's living memory. She talks about the good and the bad: games with neighbourhood kids (which will sound familiar to anyone who's read the Ramona books), fights with her mother, school, her father's unemployment during the Depression, and so on.
Worth reading!
October 9, 2014
Wonderful memoirs from Beverly Cleary. Setting aside the mother issue for a moment, Beverly had a fairly ordinary Depression era childhood and adolescence, with the usual type of childhood injustices. As she describes them, though, she's not nursing those grievances, she's showing us how she never lost the ability to tap straight into that childhood dismay when a friend snubs you or a teacher thoughtlessly insults you. And that right there is her gift.
Her mother, though. Her mother is what makes so many sections, especially the high school ones, so difficult to read. Today Mrs. Bunn would be the worst kind of Facebook mom, oversharing details of her daughter's life and hovering over her daughter's own fb page.
Highly recommended, and the sequel is even better.
My pre-Goodreads book journal says that I last read this 8-4-05, in preparation for my first trip to Oregon. Has it really been that long since a re-read?
Her mother, though. Her mother is what makes so many sections, especially the high school ones, so difficult to read. Today Mrs. Bunn would be the worst kind of Facebook mom, oversharing details of her daughter's life and hovering over her daughter's own fb page.
Highly recommended, and the sequel is even better.
My pre-Goodreads book journal says that I last read this 8-4-05, in preparation for my first trip to Oregon. Has it really been that long since a re-read?
March 26, 2013
I enjoyed this book but I didn't love it. I found the earlier portions of Cleary's life far more interesting (and easier to read about) than her late teens. There is a lot of weirdness around her relationship with her mother, and it didn't feel like she really explained it very well. I wonder if it's because her books are loved by so many kids, maybe she worried about writing too much discomfiting stuff about her mom. I walked away from this book wanting either more or less, I don't know for sure which.
November 20, 2025
Beverly Cleary died in 2021, a month shy of her 105th birthday. She was an emerging writer in my mother's childhood, and an old standby during my own, which gave her career a significant span of ongoing activity. In her memoir, she demonstrates clear and specific memories of what it felt like to be a child, and her sympathies clearly lie with kids who experience powerlessness. She herself was an active and adventurous child, and it's clear to me that her much loved character, Ramona was based on herself. She remembers her own confusions and misunderstandings of the world, and it was like reading about a real-life Ramona.
Cleary's childhood, spent in Oregon, seemed average in that it was a mix of happiness and unhappiness. She was a teenager when the Depression hit, and that was a time of great stress for her family (as well as everyone else). Her mother was a smart woman who was trapped in a time when women were mostly in their homes, so Beverly dealt with an overly possessive mom who lived through her. Her first boyfriend was a creep that she could not shake, (she was too nice). These were big problems and sources of stress for the young Beverly, but there were also moments of daily happiness, and school day trials and tribulations. I think her portrayal of childhood is realistic - a story that gives the lie to the Disney version of halcyon happiness that is presumed to be the lot of a child. Cleary was known for giving her stories an emotional realism, and her honesty in her own story points to the type of writer that she will be. The final chapter of Cleary going off to California to college gives the reader a big sigh of relief - we know that a smart young woman is on her way to her destiny, armed with hard-earned survival skills. I admire Cleary's clear-sighted perspective, her total honesty and recommend this book to all fans of children's literature.
Cleary's childhood, spent in Oregon, seemed average in that it was a mix of happiness and unhappiness. She was a teenager when the Depression hit, and that was a time of great stress for her family (as well as everyone else). Her mother was a smart woman who was trapped in a time when women were mostly in their homes, so Beverly dealt with an overly possessive mom who lived through her. Her first boyfriend was a creep that she could not shake, (she was too nice). These were big problems and sources of stress for the young Beverly, but there were also moments of daily happiness, and school day trials and tribulations. I think her portrayal of childhood is realistic - a story that gives the lie to the Disney version of halcyon happiness that is presumed to be the lot of a child. Cleary was known for giving her stories an emotional realism, and her honesty in her own story points to the type of writer that she will be. The final chapter of Cleary going off to California to college gives the reader a big sigh of relief - we know that a smart young woman is on her way to her destiny, armed with hard-earned survival skills. I admire Cleary's clear-sighted perspective, her total honesty and recommend this book to all fans of children's literature.
December 10, 2019
A thoughtful, engaging journey from the perspective of the famous author, herself! Tone shifts from the optimistic, resilient POV of childhood, and moves toward clarity and solemness as she shows her experiences as a young adult. Cleary makes sure to present as much "fun" as possible but does not disguise the realness of her struggles.
July 20, 2009
I have started DD age 8 reading the Ramona books and while buying those I found this autobiography of Beverly Cleary. I didn't know she was an Oregonian. My MIL says Ms. Cleary frequently was a guest at the state fair and other places. Certainly an author I remember from my childhood.
May 7, 2012
It took me a little while to get into it but this was a very fun read. This Beverly Cleary's memoir about her life up until she leaves for college. So much of her life ended up in her stories.
June 29, 2021
Reading A Girl from Yamhill after reading the Ramona series is interesting. Beverly Bunn was the great-granddaughter of pioneers who crossed the country on the Oregon Trail and her mother never let her forget it. They lived on the family farm. The first few years of her life were idyllic. Her father taught her the rules of safety on a farm and she was allowed to run around wild with skinned knees and bruises. She was not a sitting quietly sort of girl, like Ramona. Unfortunately farming didn't pay and her father leased the land and sold the livestock.
When they moved to Portland 6-year-old Beverly had other children to play with! Summer vacation was spent stomping around on tin can stilts calling each other "Pieface!", smashing rose petals with bricks to make perfume, playing brick factory with old bricks much to the dismay of Beverly's mother. Turns out, Mrs. Bunn was so busy on the farm she was too busy and tired to care about her daughter's behavior but once they were in town, she became obsessed with turning her daughter into a lady.
Beverly looked forward to first grade and learning how to read. At first it was fun. They started the day singing the dawnzer song. Then she fell ill, first with chicken pox and then smallpox. (She also had survived measles and later a virus/influenza! It's a miracle she made it to adulthood let alone almost 104!) Then Beverly fell behind in reading. Her teacher was cruel and punished the kids for not excelling at their lessons. School was no longer fun. The teacher was horrible and her mother didn't believe her. Beverly passed "on trial" to second grade and her mother was embarrassed and ashamed. Second grade was better. The teacher was kind and Beverly learned to read and write. She didn't like to read for pleasure at first but then she discovered the RIGHT book that captured her imagination. She began writing professionally around this time, winning contests for writing book reviews.
She started creative writing in Junior High but never wrote too much description into her book because a teacher crossed out her descriptive words and replaced them with words Beverly considered inaccurate.
Around age 12 or 13, an uncle by marriage fell in "love" with her and kept bothering her. She didn't understand his attentions and kept trying to avoid going places with her aunt and uncle. Her parents were angry until she explained to her mother what was going on. Surprisingly, her mother didn't blame her at all because no one in the family ever really liked this guy. Sadly, her mother, like most mothers at the time, didn't explain anything about sex to her daughter! When still just a tot on the farm, a boy cousin showed her how you tell a baby is a boy by taking down his pants and apparently that was the extent of her knowledge into her teens.
Mrs. Bunn was AWFUL! She was so selfish and narrow-minded. Mr. Bunn, with limited education, took a job he hated as a security guard at a bank that caused him to be depressed and angry a lot. Teenage Beverly couldn't have friends over because her mother was unloving and her father was angry.
A teacher suggested Beverly write children's books but she wanted to become a librarian so she'd have access to all those books! The Depression is coming and everyone is about to be hit hard. Her dad had to sell the farm that was in his family for 3 generations. His horrid wife likened farm life to slavery and refused to go back.
It sure sounds like a lot of childhood trauma went into making her sympathetic to rambunctious, noisy children and children who had trouble learning to read. Her best childhood memories also made it into her stories too.
I'm sure Beverly Clearly would not say her mother was toxic but as a teen she resented her mother's intrusion into her life and living vicariously through Beverly's unfulfilled "romance" with a young man the girl didn't remotely like. She did resent her parents being stuck in a rut during the Depression- no friends, no hobbies, pinching pennies and the mother pushing Beverly to be beautiful, be a lady, get married to a nice young man who can support her, etc. etc.
A teenage girl with "bands" on her teeth, feeling like an awkward ugly duckling, Beverly would not be swayed away from her passion for literature and dream of becoming a librarian. Her father was much more in tune with her and in spite of his depression and angry outbursts, he was always sympathetic.
Beverly Cleary was one smart, talented, resilient woman. I can't believe she lived to almost 104 after all the childhood diseases she had! Her spirit lives on through her novels where her characters come to life running around having adventures. Isn't that the best kind of afterlife one could wish for?
When they moved to Portland 6-year-old Beverly had other children to play with! Summer vacation was spent stomping around on tin can stilts calling each other "Pieface!", smashing rose petals with bricks to make perfume, playing brick factory with old bricks much to the dismay of Beverly's mother. Turns out, Mrs. Bunn was so busy on the farm she was too busy and tired to care about her daughter's behavior but once they were in town, she became obsessed with turning her daughter into a lady.
Beverly looked forward to first grade and learning how to read. At first it was fun. They started the day singing the dawnzer song. Then she fell ill, first with chicken pox and then smallpox. (She also had survived measles and later a virus/influenza! It's a miracle she made it to adulthood let alone almost 104!) Then Beverly fell behind in reading. Her teacher was cruel and punished the kids for not excelling at their lessons. School was no longer fun. The teacher was horrible and her mother didn't believe her. Beverly passed "on trial" to second grade and her mother was embarrassed and ashamed. Second grade was better. The teacher was kind and Beverly learned to read and write. She didn't like to read for pleasure at first but then she discovered the RIGHT book that captured her imagination. She began writing professionally around this time, winning contests for writing book reviews.
She started creative writing in Junior High but never wrote too much description into her book because a teacher crossed out her descriptive words and replaced them with words Beverly considered inaccurate.
Around age 12 or 13, an uncle by marriage fell in "love" with her and kept bothering her. She didn't understand his attentions and kept trying to avoid going places with her aunt and uncle. Her parents were angry until she explained to her mother what was going on. Surprisingly, her mother didn't blame her at all because no one in the family ever really liked this guy. Sadly, her mother, like most mothers at the time, didn't explain anything about sex to her daughter! When still just a tot on the farm, a boy cousin showed her how you tell a baby is a boy by taking down his pants and apparently that was the extent of her knowledge into her teens.
Mrs. Bunn was AWFUL! She was so selfish and narrow-minded. Mr. Bunn, with limited education, took a job he hated as a security guard at a bank that caused him to be depressed and angry a lot. Teenage Beverly couldn't have friends over because her mother was unloving and her father was angry.
A teacher suggested Beverly write children's books but she wanted to become a librarian so she'd have access to all those books! The Depression is coming and everyone is about to be hit hard. Her dad had to sell the farm that was in his family for 3 generations. His horrid wife likened farm life to slavery and refused to go back.
It sure sounds like a lot of childhood trauma went into making her sympathetic to rambunctious, noisy children and children who had trouble learning to read. Her best childhood memories also made it into her stories too.
I'm sure Beverly Clearly would not say her mother was toxic but as a teen she resented her mother's intrusion into her life and living vicariously through Beverly's unfulfilled "romance" with a young man the girl didn't remotely like. She did resent her parents being stuck in a rut during the Depression- no friends, no hobbies, pinching pennies and the mother pushing Beverly to be beautiful, be a lady, get married to a nice young man who can support her, etc. etc.
A teenage girl with "bands" on her teeth, feeling like an awkward ugly duckling, Beverly would not be swayed away from her passion for literature and dream of becoming a librarian. Her father was much more in tune with her and in spite of his depression and angry outbursts, he was always sympathetic.
Beverly Cleary was one smart, talented, resilient woman. I can't believe she lived to almost 104 after all the childhood diseases she had! Her spirit lives on through her novels where her characters come to life running around having adventures. Isn't that the best kind of afterlife one could wish for?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2023
I found this book at my local Goodwill and am so glad I bought it. I enjoyed learning about the childhood of one of my favorite authors from my childhood. I can remember not being able to gobble up her books fast enough. Some I read and reread until the pages fell out.
My dad was born in the depression and my mom’s parents a few years before so I have heard the stories but reading about it from a different part of the country was interesting. A sad and scary time in our history but we can all learn some very helpful information from that era.
There is a second memoir I am going to read next month.
My dad was born in the depression and my mom’s parents a few years before so I have heard the stories but reading about it from a different part of the country was interesting. A sad and scary time in our history but we can all learn some very helpful information from that era.
There is a second memoir I am going to read next month.
October 30, 2017
Beverly Cleary was able to cut straight to the heart of things giving her reader a clear vision of her early life in Yamhill and later in Portland, Oregon. She tells of the life of a little girl on a farm, acknowledging how difficult farm life was for her mother and their subsequent move to Portland where life was difficult for her father who missed the outdoors. Although far from the Midwest, her recollections about the Depression weren't so different from my grandmother's stories about home and school, the joy of reading and the delight in little things. I hope people remember her own story as well as those of her literary characters, Ramona, Beezus, Henry Huggins, Otis Spofford, Ribsy, Socks and Ralph S. Mouse.
November 17, 2020
Any elementary teacher could tell you who Beverly Clearly is. What teacher hasn't read a book about Ramona, Henry Huggins of Ralph Mouse? Her name brings a smile to my face and lots of fond memories of reading Ramona the Pest to my second graders. This memoir was about Beverly's life growing up during the depression. While reading it I could see bits of Ramona in her. Her teachers encouraged her to become a writer. Her mother's response? You better get a real job so you can support yourself while writing. Interesting. I enjoyed getting to know Beverly Clearly a little bit better through this book.
March 26, 2024
This was a reread and I loved it every bit as much the second time around. All of Beverly Cleary’s audiobooks are the background of my kids’ growing up years and her characters feel like our personal friends. This story of her childhood is an witty, moving, often sad account of one family navigating the Depression years.
June 17, 2024
Okay. I don't really need to say much but this is an overall summary of why I read this book. (I stopped on chapter 27 out of 31 but I'm just gonna say I completed the book.)
1. I had to take notes on this.
2. It was a requirement for my English class that we listen to a memoir.
3. I HAD to listen to the recording my English teacher made like, 14 years ago.
4. I couldn't get a physical copy, so I had to opt for "Sora," this random library website.
5. The audiobook was not on Libby!
I didn't enjoy this at all. Because it was for school and I also didn't like the storyline. There were a few funny parts (inappropriate parts) that my teacher cut out of the recording, so I had to go into my digital copy and read them, because if it's skipped, it's probably good...
I took so many notes on Chapters 25-27 (the chapters are unfortunately not in separate recordings, clumped together about 3 at a time, so I'm not sure the exact chapter of each event) that it looked like an ESSAY. An ESSAY, people. So I was naughty and took half of the notes I took on these chapters and pretended they were notes from the last few chapters (28-31), which I didn't read. There were so many I didn't even need to write more- what a waste of time, though... ugh.
I, personally, don't recommend this if you're not into memoirs/autobiographies... yeah. (You probably made that inference the second you saw that single lonely star, but...)
P.S., even though she'll never see this review because she has unfortunately passed (and she wouldn't see it anyway if she was still around), I feel so bad because I just have the hugest soft spot for elders, I think they're so cute, but like, baby cute! Everyone thinks that's so weird... let me know if you agree with me, though! <3 Thanks for reading my review! (It was mostly just a rant, lol.)
1. I had to take notes on this.
2. It was a requirement for my English class that we listen to a memoir.
3. I HAD to listen to the recording my English teacher made like, 14 years ago.
4. I couldn't get a physical copy, so I had to opt for "Sora," this random library website.
5. The audiobook was not on Libby!
I didn't enjoy this at all. Because it was for school and I also didn't like the storyline. There were a few funny parts (inappropriate parts) that my teacher cut out of the recording, so I had to go into my digital copy and read them, because if it's skipped, it's probably good...
I took so many notes on Chapters 25-27 (the chapters are unfortunately not in separate recordings, clumped together about 3 at a time, so I'm not sure the exact chapter of each event) that it looked like an ESSAY. An ESSAY, people. So I was naughty and took half of the notes I took on these chapters and pretended they were notes from the last few chapters (28-31), which I didn't read. There were so many I didn't even need to write more- what a waste of time, though... ugh.
I, personally, don't recommend this if you're not into memoirs/autobiographies... yeah. (You probably made that inference the second you saw that single lonely star, but...)
P.S., even though she'll never see this review because she has unfortunately passed (and she wouldn't see it anyway if she was still around), I feel so bad because I just have the hugest soft spot for elders, I think they're so cute, but like, baby cute! Everyone thinks that's so weird... let me know if you agree with me, though! <3 Thanks for reading my review! (It was mostly just a rant, lol.)
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