Beverly Cleary

Growing up in Portland, Beverly Cleary's books were required reading. The fictitious world of Ramona Quimby, Beezus, Henry Huggins, Ribsy, and Aunt Bea were a beloved place that happened to exist in my very own hometown. One year in grade school my class took a field trip across town to walk down the real Klickitat Street and other places immortalized in Cleary's series. One day not too long ago I found myself walking down Quimby street in Northwest Portland and thought of the young freckled heroine of those books I hadn't thought of for so long. Until now, Ramona's legacy has been restricted to the original books and a 1988 Canadian mini-series starring a young Sarah Polley which I watched on PBS many, many times. On July 23rd the full-length feature version starring Selena Gomez and Joey King will hit theaters.

Gomez is of Disney fame and I after checking out Joey King's IMDB page I'm fairly certain the only thing I have seen her in is an episode of Entourage where she played "Chuck Liddell's daughter." Ramona's parents are played by Bridget Moynihan and John Corbett (wholesome twist for two actors known for their roles on Sex and the City) and the beloved Aunt Bea and Uncle Hobart are played by Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Duhamel, respectively. I'm thrilled by the casting of Goodwin as Aunt Bea, who exemplifies the ultimate in idealized role models: the cool aunt.

It's always a risk converting a literary classic into a film. I'll admit I was and to a certain extent still remain highly skeptical that a current children's movie could do justice to the books I loved all those years ago, but after watching the trailer I feel rather optimistic. It was filmed in British Columbia, which is passable as Portland, Oregon and they seem to have captured at least some of the charm of the novel upon which it is based. It's a refreshing departure from the hyper-merchandised, trendy movies that have become the standard in the age of product placement and manufactured stardom. In fact, I believe I didn't see a single product placement in the entire promo. I plan on seeing it upon its release (likely on DVD some months down the road). Check on the trailer for now: