Susan Kushner is a fictional character in the

Ramona series ''Ramona'' is a 1884 American novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson. Set in Southern California after the Mexican–American War, it portrays the life of a mixed-race Scottish– Native American orphan girl, who suffers racial discrimination ...

of novels by

Beverly Cleary Beverly Atlee Cleary (née Bunn; April 12, 1916March 25, 2021) was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide since her first b ...

Fictional character biography

A girl named Susan appears in '' Beezus and Ramona'' at Ramona's party, although it's never specified whether or not she's Susan Kushner. When

Ramona Quimby Ramona Geraldine Quimby is a fictional character in an eponymous series of novels by Beverly Cleary. She starts out in the Henry Huggins series as the pestering younger sister of Henry's new best friend Beatrice, called "Beezus" by Ramona and h ...

starts

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

and when she first pulls her hair, they become rivals through much of the series. In ''

Ramona the Pest ''Ramona the Pest'', by Beverly Cleary, is the second book of the Ramona series and the first to focus on Ramona Quimby as the protagonist. This children's book chronicles the adventures of Ramona's first few months at kindergarten. The book's t ...

'', Susan's S's look like

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete worm ...

s crawling, as many students with S's in their names are in Miss Binney's class. She has long curls described as blonde in '' Ramona's World'', although ''Ramona the Pest'' describes Susan's hair color as "a sort of reddish brown".

Relationship between Susan and Ramona

Susan is portrayed as being somewhat snobby and overachieving; in the book of her debut, her beautiful curls become the object of Ramona's fascination and lead to the girl's suspension from

for pulling the curls out of curiosity. In the following book, set a year later, Susan copies a stereotypically-designed wise paper bag

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

arts and crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

session, which is destroyed by an enraged Ramona after Susan is praised by the entire classroom for her work. She is depicted as a typical perfectionist; well-behaved in class, calm, and hard-working, as opposed to Ramona's active imagination and unintentionally troublemaking personality. However, she is a bit of a snob, exaggerating the pain felt after Ramona tugged her curly hair in ''Ramona the Pest'' for attention. In the final book of the series, she refuses a slice of cake during Ramona's birthday celebration claiming that it is probably unhygienic and eating an

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...

instead, but soon afterward she confesses, in tears, her lifelong striving for perfection among adults, and her relationship with Ramona seems to improve afterward. In the same book, it is revealed that her parents tell Ramona to "be nice".

Film

In the 2010 film ''

Ramona and Beezus ''Ramona and Beezus'' is a 2010 American family adventure comedy film based on the Ramona series of novels written by Beverly Cleary.Vena, Jocely"Selena Gomez To Star In 'Ramona and Beezus' Movie."MTV.com, 2009-02-06.Kilday, Gregg"Young actre ...

'', Susan is portrayed by

Sierra McCormick Sierra McCormick (born October 28, 1997) is an American actress. She first became known for participating on the game show '' Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?'' (2007–2008) before making her acting debut with a recurring role as Lilith on t ...

and seen as more of a bully than anywhere else in the series. She is portrayed as being conceited, auditioning to star in television advertisements for a well-known brand of

peanut butter Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers. Peanut butter is consumed in many countri ...

as its princess mascot, donning a

tiara A tiara (from la, tiara, from grc, τιάρα) is a jeweled head ornament. Its origins date back to ancient Greece and Rome. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women ...

at school, albeit whether or not she was selected for the part is unknown. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kushner, Susan Beverly Cleary characters Child characters in literature Female characters in literature Literary characters introduced in 1955