Henry and the Paper Route (10 page)
Read Henry and the Paper Route Online
Authors: Beverly Cleary
Ramona beamed. There was nothing she liked better than pretending.
Henry relaxed and set the head on her shoulders. “Now remember,” he cautioned. “A mechanical man can't move very fast, and he jerks along when he walks.” That was to keep her from getting any ideas about being a robot who delivered papers.
“Clank, clank,” answered Ramona, jerking down the steps.
“A mechanical man can't bend at the waist, because he doesn't have any,” Henry added.
“Clank,” answered Ramona.
Henry and Beezus exchanged a look of relief. His route was safe! Henry could see
that Beezus was impressed with his idea. And it was pretty smart of him to think of it, Henry thought modestly. Maybe he wasn't a genius like Murph, but he wasn't so dumb, either. In some ways he was even smarter than Murph. Henry found himself pleased with the thought of being smarter than a genius.
“Henry, what a wonderful idea!” Beezus sounded truly grateful. “Now she will be lots easier to chase.”
Henry grinned. “Well, so long,” he said, and mounted his bicycle. “I've got to get on with my route.”
His route
. Henry felt like shouting the words so the whole world could hear them, because at last he was doing what he wanted to doâsomething important. And on Saturday he and Murph would start building their own private telephone line. Good old Murph! It was lucky he had moved into the neighborhood. Life,
Henry discovered, was suddenly so full of interesting things to do that he rode his bicycle through a pile of autumn leaves in the gutter just for the joy of hearing them crackle.
“Clank, clank!” Ramona yelled after him.
“Clank, clank!” answered Henry.
BEVERLY CLEARY
is one of America's most popular authors. Born in McMinnville, Oregon, she lived on a farm in Yamhill until she was six and then moved to Portland. After college, as the children's librarian in Yakima, Washington, she was challenged to find stories for non-readers. She wrote her first book,
HENRY HUGGINS
, in response to a boy's question, “Where are the books about kids like us?”
     Mrs. Cleary's books have earned her many prestigious awards, including the American Library Association's Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, presented in recognition of her lasting contribution to children's literature. Her
DEAR MR
.
HENSHAW
was awarded the 1984 John Newbery Medal, and both
RAMONA QUIMBY
,
AGE
8 and
RAMONA AND HER FATHER
have been named Newbery Honor Books. In addition, her books have won more than thirty-five statewide awards based on the votes of her young readers. Her characters, including Henry Huggins, Ellen Tebbits, Otis Spofford, and Beezus and Ramona Quimby, as well as Ribsy, Socks, and Ralph S. Mouse, have delighted children for generations. Mrs. Cleary lives in coastal California.
Visit Henry Huggins and all of his friends in The World of Beverly Cleary at www.beverlycleary.com.
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FEATURING RAMONA QUIMBY
:
Beezus and Ramona
Ramona the Pest
Ramona the Brave
Ramona and Her Father
Ramona and Her Mother
Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Ramona Forever
Ramona's World
FEATURING HENRY HUGGINS
:
Henry Huggins
Henry and Beezus
Henry and Ribsy
Henry and the Paper Route
Henry and the Clubhouse
Ribsy
FEATURING RALPH MOUSE
:
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
Runaway Ralph
Ralph S. Mouse
MORE GREAT FICTION BY BEVERLY CLEARY
:
Ellen Tebbits
Otis Spofford
Fifteen
The Luckiest Girl
Jean and Johnny
Emily's Runaway Imagination
Sister of the Bride
Mitch and Amy
Socks
Dear Mr. Henshaw
Muggie Maggie
Strider
Two Times the Fun
AND DON'T MISS BEVERLY CLEARY'S AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
:
A Girl from Yamhill
My Own Two Feet
HENRY AND THE PAPER ROUTE
. Copyright © 1957, renewed 1985 by Beverly Cleary. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub © Edition SEPTEMBER 2009 ISBN: 9780061972225
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