Beverly Cleary

Beverly Cleary (1916–2021) was an American children's and young adult fiction writer, one of America's most successful authors with over 91 million copies of her books sold worldwide. She created beloved characters including Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and Ralph S. Mouse, and won the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. Her realistic and humorous stories about growing up gave struggling readers like herself characters they could see themselves in.