A Girl from Yamhill

Having read Beverly Cleary's books as a child, it was fascinating to read about her early life, and to see how this influenced her writing. Born in the country on a farm, she moved to Portland as a young girl, and grew up during the Depression.

Those who have read a lot of Beverly Cleary books, as I have, will recognize some of the incidents and themes of her characters' lives here, albeit several decades beforehand. What is so striking, and shouldn't be surprising, is how keenly Cleary remembers and understands the inner lives of

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children -- both herself and the occasional friends and foes in the narrative. It's also delightful to find out how early Cleary resolved to be a writer, and some of her memories -- including one of her earliest! -- are remarkable and interesting.

This book, gentle and personal, is written at a level that child fans of Cleary's should be well able to access, but its attempts to understand and feel compassion for all the characters in the author's life allow it to succeed for an adult reader, as well.

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An engaging memoir -- from childhood on a farm and in Portland to departure for college, including Cleary's difficult relationship with her mother and awkward dating.

How could you not give Bevely Cleary five stars?

This is the first book of two which tells the story of Mrs. Cleary's childhood. God bless her, I think her mom was so worried about what others thought about their family that it marked her life. This book would be good for any one who is a fan of

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all those great Henry and Ribsy, Ramona, etc. books.

The book itself also provides a social commentary of Portland, Oregon when Mrs. Cleary was a child.

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Pages-352. This book is the life story of author Beverly Cleary. To start, I must say that I will never read this book AGAIN! In other words, extremely boring. The book starts when Cleary is the young child of a farm family. Playing around with flowers and arguing about who draws the better bird is

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the highlight of her life at this time. Her mother starts a town library and the depression is starting ofrcing her family ot sell the farm and move to the city. She starts school with a mean teacher, but then learns with a few nicer ones. A few guys like her and she makes some friends. In highschool, Beverly and a boy get quite close, but she decides that she doesn't like him and refuses to marry him when she gets older. At the end of the book she moves to California to go to college and to get a job.

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My son brought this home and I read it. She had quite a life, its nice to know that Cleary was a normal person under all the great stories she wrote for kids.

I was a bit dissapointed as I was hoping for a bit more...into her later years. However, I did discover that there is a second book. Mainly curiosity as she was born in the town a stones throw from me and raised in Portland, Oregon. AND of course I read her childrens stories as my children have

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also. As to whether or not to read the second memoir....I might.

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Rereading in honor of the late Beverly Cleary. She paints a vivid picture of life growing up in rural Oregon and then Portland. Simpler, idyllic times...and then the Great Depression. I'd forgotten about her complex, evolving relationship with her mother, but not the skeevy uncle!