A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir

Told in her own words, A Girl from Yamhill is Newbery Medal–winning author Beverly Cleary’s heartfelt and relatable memoir.

For everyone who has enjoyed the pranks and schemes, embarrassing moments, and all of the other poignant and colorful images of childhood brought to life in Beverly Cleary’s books, here is the fascinating true story of the remarkable woman who created them.

Generations of children have read Beverly Cleary’s books. From Ramona Quimby to Henry Huggins, Ralph S. Mouse to Ellen Tebbits, she has created an evergreen body of work based on the humorous tales and heartfelt anxieties of middle graders.

But in A Girl from Yamhill, Beverly Cleary tells a more personal story—her story—of what adolescence was like. In warm but honest detail, Beverly describes life in Oregon during the Great Depression, including her difficulties in learning to read, and offers a slew of anecdotes that were, perhaps, the inspiration for some of her beloved stories.

This powerful memoir of becoming a writer reveals:

• A Piece of Oregon History: A vivid, firsthand account of farm life in Yamhill and growing up in Portland during the Depression era.
• The Girl Who Couldn’t Read: The surprising story of how the beloved author first struggled with reading before books became her refuge and greatest inspiration.
• A Complex Mother Daughter Story: An unflinching look at a difficult and formative relationship, told with the signature honesty Beverly Cleary’s readers have come to love.
• The Making of a Writer: Discover the real-life people and childhood anecdotes that would later become the seeds for Ramona, Henry, and the rest of the Klickitat Street gang.