An adventurous and creative third-grader named Ramona Quimby often finds herself in trouble at school and at home and usually spends time with her neighbor and best friend, Howard Kemp. When her father Robert loses his job and the family falls into severe debt, Ramona's efforts to earn money end up backfiring in humorous ways. She repeatedly embarrasses her older sister, Beatrice, in front of Henry Huggins the paperboy (who is also Beatrice's crush) by calling her the family nickname, "Beezus". Although he had worked as an executive in a company since Beezus's birth, Robert quarrels with Dorothy (his wife and the girls' mother) when he considers pursuing a new, more creative career. Meanwhile, Ramona's visiting aunt Beatrice, her sister's namesake, is one of the few who accepts her despite all her eccentricities. After a car-painting accident involving Bea's old flame Hobart, who happens to be Howard's uncle, Ramona gives up her money-making schemes. The next day, she ruins her school portrait by cracking a raw egg in her hair and making a face when the photographer asks her to say "Peas" instead of "Cheese". Ramona's worries increase the following day, when her classmate Susan reveals that after her own father lost his job, her parents divorced and her father moved to
Tacoma. The news makes Ramona physically sick, and Robert has to pick her up early from school, interfering with a sudden job interview. Instead of being angry, Robert decides to spend the rest of his day drawing a mural with Ramona. While Ramona and Beezus attempt to make dinner for their parents, the pan catches fire while Beezus is on the phone with Henry. During the ensuing argument, Henry overhears that Beezus loves him. Still upset, Ramona goes to feed her cat Picky-Picky but is devastated to find him dead. The girls' private funeral for their friend helps them reconcile. A job offer for Robert in
Oregon leads Ramona's parents to decide to sell their house. As the family touches up the garden during an open house, Ramona inadvertently initiates a water fight with the neighbors, which floods the neighbors' backyard and exposes a box that Hobart buried there years ago. The box contains mementos of Bea and Hobart's teenage romance, and in light of their rekindling relationship, he proposes to her. Hesitantly, Bea accepts, and the family begins planning the impromptu wedding. Furious that her aunt broke her promise not to get "reeled in" with Hobart again, Ramona rushes home, seeking solace in the attic. The fragile floorboards break, leaving her legs dangling from the ceiling during the open house. After they clear out, Robert scolds her for her lack of maturity. Feeling unwanted, Ramona decides to run away. Unable to convince her not to leave, Dorothy helps her pack. Opening the heavy suitcase at a bus stop, Ramona discovers that Dorothy intentionally made it heavy to keep her from getting far. Inside, Dorothy packed a book of Robert's sketches of Ramona. Her family finds her soon afterward and everyone is happily reunited. At Bea and Hobart's wedding, Ramona saves the day when she finds the wedding ring Howard had dropped. During the reception, Beezus and Henry share a kiss and dance together, risking it as they were moving. Robert gets another job offer, this one at Ramona's school, as her teacher Mrs. Meachum recommended him as the new art teacher after she saw the mural that he and Ramona made. Ramona is delighted they won't have to move and that her parents are reconciling. Before Bea and Hobart leave for their honeymoon in
Alaska, Ramona gives Bea a locket with her school picture, and Bea says Ramona is "extraordinary". ==Cast==