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Love Beezus and Ramona? Beverly Cleary’s childhood home is for sale

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A real estate agent in Portland, Ore., has gotten hold of a literary property: The childhood home of children’s book author Beverly Cleary. The 1910 bungalow was listed this month at $362,000.

Cleary is 96 and in an assisted living facility that celebrates her work -- Ramona is everywhere. Her family moved to Portland from rural Oregon when Cleary was 6. She published her first novel, “Henry Huggins,” in 1950. The middle-reader book included a minor character, a bratty little sister named Ramona.

Cleary wrote about 40 books, but Ramona was a powerhouse, taking on a life of her own. There were eight Ramona books, from 1955’s “Beezus and Ramona” to 1999’s “Ramona’s World.” Ramona books won a National Book Award in 1981 and Newbery Honor medals in 1978 and 1982.

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When Cleary was awarded the L.A. Times’ Robert Kirsch Award in 2011, she said she wanted to write about ordinary American children. “The books I grew up with and found in the library … so many children lived in England and had nannies and pony carts, and I just wanted grubby neighborhood kids.” The Times’ David Ulin explained, “This is the secret of Henry Huggins, who — along with Ramona; her big sister, Beezus; and the other residents of Portland’s Klickitat Street — centers so many of Cleary’s books: that in their stories, generations of children have seen themselves.”

Could the neighborhood where Cleary’s three-bedroom, 1,872-square-foot house at 3340 NE Hancock Street have been an inspiration? “Charming street with curb appeal,” writes another Porland real estate agent.

The single-family home has a large deck and a backyard. The living room has a fireplace, there is an eat-in nook in the kitchen, which has mint-green tile, and there are lots of period details.

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The only downside seems to be that as of this morning, an offer on it is pending.

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