| The New Yorker said of the first volume
of Beverly Cleary's memoirs, "It is a warm, honest book, as interesting
as any novel, and describes the growing-up process with remarkable
clarity and candor." Now the creator of Ramona Quimby and Henry
Huggins writes of her early adulthood with humor and insight, making
Beverly Cleary's own story as lively and irresistible as any of her
novels.
In 1934, Beverly Bunn left home to attend college in California,
which she imagined as the land of orange groves and movie stars,
far removed from the hardships of the Depression. As a young woman
who 11 was sure where she wanted to go but did not know if she could
find the money to get there," she juggled studies of Chaucer
and French grammar with the many chores that came with life in a
student cooperative house. She also found time to eat a bacon and
tomato sandwich with a quiet young man named Clarence Cleary.
Work as a librarian brought her into contact with all sorts of
youngsters, from the children of the unemployed to the offspring
of doctors and lawyers. But it was the children who built scooters
out of apple boxes and roller skates who truly inspired her. They
asked, "Where are the books about kids like us?" and the
young librarian responded with her first book, about a boy named
Henry who had a dog named Spareribs-later changed to Ribsy.
Told with the deep understanding of human nature that has made
her books beloved by three generations of readers, My Own Two
Feet is a lively, unforgettable look at the early years of a
woman whose books speak directly to the hearts and imaginations
of children everywhere.
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"Beverly Cleary brings the same verve
to her own story that has made her fiction classic for nearly
50 years."
--Kirkus Reviews
"Cleary will endear herself even more to her fans with
this account of her struggle for independence."
--Publishers Weekly
"Cleary recalls the past with humor, affection, and insight.
Those who have always admired her books will have an even
greater admiration for the author."
--Horn Book
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