Ramona 的爸爸的公司突然關閉了，所以爸爸只好重新找工作，全家的生活也因爸爸的失業而產生了變化，這本書描寫的就是在這段時間裏所發生的事，同時還提到他們如何想法子勸爸爸戒煙的事。


Ramona just wants everyone to be happy. If only her father would smile and joke again, her mother would look less worried, her sister would be cheerful, and Picky-picky would eat his cat-food. But Ramona's father has lost his job, and nobody in the Quimby household is in a very good mood.

Ramona tries to cheer up the family as only Ramona can -- by rehearsing for life as a rich and famous star of television commercials, for instance -- but her best efforts only make things worse. Her sister, Beezus, calls her a, pest, her parents lose patience with her, and her teacher claims she's forgotten her- manners. But when her father admits he wouldn't trade her for a million dollars, Ramona knows everything is going to work out fine in the end.