It’s been a very long time since we’ve added to this series, but when it first started a few years back, i adored writing for it. The idea is to write a list of lessons that you have learnt from a character, one that’s stood out to you and taught you lessons in the good or bad. We have a few other posts like this one that you can find HERE if you want to check them out.
Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy was one of our book club picks for this year, after me and Sophie had both wanted to pick it up. I didn’t ever expect to connect to a character as much as i have done Ramona. I figured i’d relate to her sexuality story, and i knew that from the back of the book, but reading her story i really connected to her as a whole and understood what she was going through. However there were a few parts to her that i found frustrating, and didn’t get on with at all. That doesn’t mean that i didn’t learn a lot from reading about her. Here are some of the lessons that i learned from reading about Ramona.
- Work hard.
Throughout the novel, Ramona proves herself to be a hard worker. She spends so much time studying, making her family and relationships work on top of keeping down numerous jobs. I know that she doesn’t have much of a choice to keep the family above water, however she takes on a lot of responsibility for someone so young. She made me realise what working hard truly is, and definitely that i could do some more to better myself or my life. Whether that be work another job, work harder in my job or write more, all of it is working hard and Ramona does it excellently. - Accept your sexuality.
I spend a lot of time having the same issues that Ramona does with her sexuality. She’s confused because she’s falling in love with a boy, after figuring out years ago that she was in to girls. I’ve had the exact same worry, however Ramona deals with hers a lot faster than i did. Whereas a year on, i still have moments of being shocked and scared that i’m dating a boy, Ramona gets on with it and accepts her new ‘labels’ for what they are. Obviously she talks about her sexuality a lot, but is never worried about what was happening to her. Everything was accepted and that was really nice to read about. - Be comfortable with who you are.
Throughout the book, i was stunned by Ramona’s unwavering confidence with who she was. Through her mother constantly belittling her sexuality and her own life stresses, Ramona was comfortable with who she was as a person and stuck to that idea of herself. Whereas i don’t think you have to stick to the same idea you have of yourself, Ramona clearly was set on who she was and knew herself incredibly well, I loved this about her character. - Throw yourself in the deep end (literally).
If you’ve read Ramona Blue, you’ll know that she takes up swimming during the book. This need to swim intensifies and she throws herself in to the task at hand. Whether that’s training or literally throwing herself in to the deep end of the pool, it definitely taught me that i should probably throw myself in to some more situations. I’m at a point in my life where I want to better myself and try new things, so i’ve tried to throw myself in to more which i’m not comfortable with. I’m not quite as there as Ramona yet, but i’m working on it. - Make friends with everyone.
What i mean by this is, Ramona isn’t friends with the people she thought she would be. A lot of the people in her friendship group are mismatched and thrown together, even with very little in common. I definitely have the tendency to link myself to people who i have the most in common with, needing that tether to a friendship, however Ramona talks openly in the book about having nothing in common with some of her friends. I think this would open your mind to so many more things happening in the world if your circle was a little bit bigger.
These are the lessons that i took away from Ramona Blue and her wonderful character. She really did teach me a lot while i read about her life, and i found so much of myself in her character. I also really enjoyed the book, and the story line, which was a very big bonus.
Let me know in the comments what lessons you’ve learned from characters recently.
The Little Contemporary Corner 