A throwback to childhood

I can't begin to tell you the feelings of overwhelming nostalgia and excitement that ripped through me when I stumbled across the trailer for the new Ramona and Beezus movie. Ramona was not just a staple part of my literary diet when I was growing up, she was my IT girl, the one who represented the clumsy, imaginative and misunderstood younger me.

I read all her books repeatedly, and even wrote to Beverly Cleary (the author) to tell her how much I loved her books and how they made me decide I wanted to become a writer too. It was the first of only two fan letters I ever wrote in my life (the second, embarrassingly, was to Michael Jordan). Imagine my thrill when I received a reply from her in her spidery calligraphic handwriting on that old-style onionskin notepaper! It's one of my prized possessions hidden in a box somewhere so safely I can't remember where I've put it.

It brings back to mind the days of rollerskating outside the house, borrowing six library books in a day (the maximum back then) and going home to devour them through the night, skipping piano lessons to go skateboarding in the park (and finding $50 on the path - SCORE!), grazed knees, forced Korean language lessons on Saturdays and an endless supply of sweets from the cornerstore on the way to school in the mornings. Those blissful, innocent, childhood days.

I think everyone's got a Ramona - some book or movie or trigger that brings back all the memories of childhood. What's yours?

Ramona and Beezus trailer: