In this touching and funny story, the ebullient Ramona,
feeling brave and grown-up, enters first grade. Quickly
she finds that her new teacher, Mrs. Griggs, appears
perplexed by pupils who like to be different. Since Ramona
cannot help being different, clearly the two are
incompatible.
Nevertheless, Ramona can be counted on to keep things
lively. Enraged when Susan copies her wise old owl
prepared for Parents' Night and receives praise for it,
Ramona rebels. Overcome by guilt and no longer brave, she
tries mightily thereafter to please her teacher, but still
Mrs. Griggs infuriatingly reports home that Ramona lacks
self-control. Only because she is a girl with spunk, to
use her father's word, does Ramona's courage return,
earning her at last an uneasy truce with the teacher.