History Fridge / RamonaQuimby

* In ''Ramona Quimby, Age 8'', Ramona gets stomach flu. However, stomach flu is very contagious and has an incubation period. Beezus and the parents got off lucky, but what about the other students? Or Mrs. Larson, who takes care of her in the office? Or the taxi driver (perhaps that's why he was described as looking "doubtful"; he was afraid of catching it from Ramona)? Did Ramona's throwing up in class ''cause'' any of the kids who sat near her to get sick too over the next few days?

** In ''Ramona Forever'', Ramona assumes that her aunt's wedding isn't going to happen when she snaps at her fiancé at the rehearsal party and they get into a fight. Aunt Bea was probably under a huge amount of stress: She was finishing teaching elementary school and writing progress reports, planning a wedding, preparing to move to Alaska, selling her car, etc... All of that finally got to her and she lost it at something fairly minor. Once she got that out, she and Hobart were able to make up pretty easily. It's just too bad it happened in front of their families.

* In ''Ramona Quimby, Age 8'', Ramona gets stomach flu. However, stomach flu is very contagious and has an incubation period. Beezus and the parents got off lucky, but what about the other students? Or the taxi driver (perhaps that's why he was described as looking "doubtful"; he was afraid of catching it from Ramona)?

** It's unlikely that Picky-Picky literally starved to death; first of all, there would have been noticeable signs that any reasonably attentive pet owner would have picked up on (the most obvious being that the cat would have been extremely thin and barely able to move), but also, animals are also just not wired to let themselves starve if they have a choice, so no matter how much Picky-Picky hated the food, his base instincts would eventually drive him to eat it rather than go without food completely (which eventually happens in ''Ramona and Her Father''). However, his dislike of the cheap food could have masked the symptoms of some kind of illness, since in many cases, one of the first things -- in some cases the ''only'' thing -- that will alert owners to a problem is that the cat is losing its appetite, but if Picky-Picky was already indifferent towards his food, there wouldn't be a notable change to alert the Quimbys that something was wrong. (Also, the age number is iffy because he was also 10 in a book that takes place two years earlier, so probably don't put too much stock in that exact number.)

** It's unlikely that Picky-Picky literally starved to death; not only would the Quimbys have noticed if their cat got that thin, but animals are also just not wired to let themselves starve if they have a choice, so no matter how much Picky-Picky hated the food, his base instincts would eventually drive him to eat it rather than go without food completely (which eventually happens in ''Ramona and Her Father''). However, his dislike of the cheap food could have masked the symptoms of some kind of illness, since in many cases, one of the first things that will alert owners to a problem is that the cat is losing its appetite, but if Picky-Picky was already indifferent towards his food, there wouldn't be a notable change to alert the Quimbys that something was wrong. (Also, the age number is iffy because he was also 10 in a book that takes place two years earlier, so probably don't put too much stock in that exact number.)

Strange behaviors by older characters start to make more sense when you grow up:

** In ''Ramona Forever'', Ramona is surprised that Beezus is so willing to babysit her after school instead of going to rich and popular Pamela's house. Beezus later explains that she's not speaking to Pamela because she was always asking when Mr. Quimby is going to get a ''real'' job. Beezus was probably looking for an excuse to get out of seeing Pamela without having to tell the truth.
** In ''Ramona Forever'', Ramona assumes that her aunt's wedding isn't going to happen when she snaps at her fiance at the rehearsal party and they get into a fight. Aunt Bea was probably under a huge amount of stress. She was finishing teaching elementary school and writing progress reports, planning a wedding, preparing to move to Alaska, selling her car, etc... All of that finally got to her and she lost it at something fairly minor. Once she got that out, she and Hobart were able to make up pretty easily. It's just too bad it happened in front of their families.

An ongoing behavioral tic of the Quimbys' cat is his refusal to eat cheap cat food. In ''Ramona Forever,'' he falls over and dies, supposedly of old age, but the gravestone Ramona makes for him says he was only 10 years old, which isn't that old for a cat (house cats can live to be 12-18 with proper care). Did the Quimbys inadvertently starve their cat to death?
* One has to wonder as to why and how Picky-Picky got to be the way he is. If he wasn't starved, then he might have gotten sick from his unusual eating habits.
* It's unlikely that Picky-Picky literally starved to death; not only would the Quimbys have noticed if their cat got that thin, but animals are also just not wired to let themselves starve if they have a choice, so no matter how much Picky-Picky hated the food, his base instincts would eventually drive him to eat it rather than go without food completely. However, his dislike of the cheap food could have masked the symptoms of some kind of illness, since in many cases, one of the first things that will alert owners to a problem is that the cat is losing its appetite, but if Picky-Picky was already indifferent towards his food, there wouldn't be a notable change to alert the Quimbys that something was wrong. (Also, the age number is iffy because he was also 10 in a book that takes place two years earlier, so probably don't put too much stock in that exact number.)
In "Ramona Quimby, Age 8", Ramona gets stomach flu. However, stomach flu is very contagious and has an incubation period. Beezus and the parents got off lucky, but what about the other students? Or the taxi driver (perhaps that's why he was described as looking "doubtful"; he was afraid of catching it from Ramona)?

* In "Ramona Quimby, Age 8", Ramona gets stomach flu. However, stomach flu is very contagious and has an incubation period. Beezus and the parents got off lucky, but what about the other students? Or the taxi driver (perhaps that's why he was described as looking "doubtful"; he was afraid of catching it from Ramona)?

* It's unlikely that Picky-Picky literally starved to death; not only would the Quimbys have noticed if their cat got that thin, but animals are also just not wired to let themselves starve if they have a choice, so no matter how much Picky-Picky hated the food, his base instincts would eventually drive him to eat it rather than go without food completely. However, his dislike of the cheap food could have masked the symptoms of some kind of illness, since in many cases, one of the first things that will alert owners to a problem is that the cat is losing its appetite, but if Picky-Picky was already indifferent towards his food, there wouldn't be a notable change to alert the Quimbys that something was wrong. (Also, the age number is iffy because he was also 10 in a book that takes place two years earlier, so probably don't put too much stock in that exact number.)

* It's unlikely that Picky-Picky literally starved to death; not only would the Quimbys have noticed if their cat got that thin, but animals are also just not wired to let themselves starve if they have a choice, so Picky-Picky would eventually eat the food rather than starve. However, his dislike of the cheap food could have masked the symptoms of some kind of illness, since in many cases, one of the first things that will alert owners to a problem is that the cat is losing its appetite, but if Picky-Picky was already indifferent towards his food, there wouldn't be a notable change to alert the Quimbys that something was wrong. (Also, the age number is iffy because he was also 10 in a book that takes place two years earlier, so probably don't put too much stock in that exact number.)

** One has to wonder as to why and how Picky-Picky got to be the way he is. If he wasn't starved, then he might have gotten sick from his unusual eating habits.
** It's unlikely that Picky-Picky literally starved to death; not only would the Quimbys have noticed if their cat got that thin, but animals are also just not wired to let themselves starve if they have a choice, so Picky-Picky would eventually eat the food rather than starve. However, his dislike of the cheap food could have masked the symptoms of some kind of illness, since in many cases, one of the first things that will alert owners to a problem is that the cat is losing its appetite, but the Quimbys wouldn't have recognized this if Picky-Picky was already indifferent towards his food. (Also, the age number is iffy because he was also 10 in a book that takes place two years earlier, so probably don't put too much stock in that exact number.)

** It's unlikely that Picky-Picky literally starved to death; not only would the Quimbys have noticed massive weight loss, but animals are also just not wired to let themselves starve rather than eat food that's not to their taste. However, his dislike of the cheap food could have masked the symptoms of some kind of illness, since in many cases, one of the first things that will alert owners to a problem is that the cat is losing its appetite, but the Quimbys wouldn't have recognized this if Picky-Picky was already indifferent towards his food. (Also, the age number is iffy because he was also 10 in a book that takes place two years earlier, so probably don't put too much stock in that exact number.)

** It's unlikely that Picky-Picky literally starved to death; not only would the Quimbys have noticed massive weight loss, but animals are also just not wired to let themselves starve rather than eat food that's not to their taste. However, his dislike of the cheap food could have masked the symptoms of some kind of illness, since one of the signs of illness in cats is loss of appetite, but the Quimbys wouldn't have noticed this if Picky-Picky was already kind of indifferent towards his food. (Also, the age number is iffy because he was also 10 in a book that takes place two years earlier.)

** It's unlikely that Picky-Picky literally starved to death; not only would the Quimbys have noticed massive weight loss, but animals are also not wired to let themselves starve rather than eat even if the food is not to their taste. However, his dislike of the cheap food could have masked the symptoms of some kind of illness, since one of the signs of illness in cats is loss of appetite, but the Quimbys wouldn't have noticed this if Picky-Picky was already kind of indifferent towards his food. (Also, the age number is iffy because he was also 10 in a book that takes place two years earlier.)

** One has to wonder as to why and how Picky-Picky got to be the way he is. If he wasn't starved, then he might have gotten sick from his unusual eating habits.

An ongoing behavioral tic of the Quimbys' cat is his refusal to eat cheap cat food. In ''Ramona Forever,'' he falls over and dies, supposedly of old age, but the gravestone Ramona makes for him says he was only 10 years old, which isn't that old for a cat (domestic cats can live to be 12-18 with proper care). Did the Quimbys inadvertently starve their cat to death?

An ongoing behavioral tic of the Quimbys' cat is his refusal to eat cheap cat food. In ''Ramona Forever,'' he falls over and dies, supposedly of old age, but the gravestone Ramona makes for him says he was only 10 years old, which isn't that old for a cat. Did the Quimbys inadvertently starve their cat to death?

An ongoing behavioral tic of the Quimbys' cat is his refusal to eat cheap cat food. In ''Ramona Forever,'' he falls over and dies, supposedly of old age, but the gravestone Ramona makes for him says he was only 10 years old. Did the Quimbys inadvertently starve their cat to death?

** One has to wonder as to why and how Picky-Picky got to be the way he is. If he wasn't starved, then he might have gotten sick from his unusually eating habits.

** One has to wonder as to why and how Picky-Picky got to be the way he is. If he wasn't starved, then he might have gotten sick from his unusually eating habits.