Before I started spending all of my free time attempting to write as many Blu-ray Disc/DVD reviews as possible, I was an avid reader. From a young age, I would read anything that I could get my hands on, and my interests seemed to jump overnight from elementary school books to Stephen King and Dean Koontz. The young adult fiction craze that we have today didn't exist back then and there weren't many choices for readers who were too old for "Easy Street" but weren't ready for adult books. Let me rephrase that -- there weren't many choices aimed at boys. Every girl that I knew was reading Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume books, and this trend continues to this day. That's why it's not surprising to see the Ramona and Beezus movie arrive.

Ramona Quimby (Joey King) is a precocious young girl who is big on imagination and short on self-control. She lives with her older sister, Beezus (Selena Gomez), her baby sister Roberta, and her parents (John Corbett and Bridget Moynahan). Ramona often gets in trouble at school, and has been known to make messes at home. She is jealous of the attention that Beezus gets and has been known to escape into her imagination. She loves her Aunt Bea (Ginnifer Goodwin), and often turns to her for advice. When the family falls on hard times, Ramona tries to split her time between finding a way to help her parents and finding things to distract her from worrying. While searching for things to keep her occupied, Ramona learns the importance of family.

Thanks to input from my wife and daughters, I learned that Ramona and Beeezus is made up of bits and pieces from the various Ramona books. Even without their help, I could have guessed this, as the movie is very episodic. It does have an over-arching plot, but otherwise, we are treated to one separate scenes after another which depict Ramona doing her antics. Starting a lemonade stand, trying out for a commercial, wearing pajamas to school -- the movie is full of the interesting and outrageous things that Ramona does.

Of course, this gives the movie a very choppy and episodic feel. The screenplay by Laurie Craig and Nick Pustay certainly feels as if it has tried to incorporate as many facets of Ramona's personality. The problem is that we never get to really know anyone, or truly get involved in any of the situations. Characters like Howie Kemp (Jason Spevack) and Susan (Sierra McCormick) come in and out Ramona's life, but we only get a surface grasp of who they are. Beezus likes a boy named Henry Huggins (Hutch Dano) (who actually has his own book in the series), but he's a shadow of a character as well. A subplot concerning Bea and her old flame, Hobart (Josh Duhamel), weaves in and out of the story, seeming to arrive when convenient. I have to imagine that if you've read the books, all of this will be familiar, but to newcomers like me, it feels as if I'm getting "Ramona's Greatest Hits" instead of a concrete story.

While the story isn't totally satisfying, Ramona and Beeezus certainly has a lot of heart. Ramona's behavior may be over-the-top at times, her misadventures have a definite element of truth and will hit home with anyone who has kids. "Her heart is in the right place" is a cliche, but it's true in Ramona's case. She may come across as a brat at times, but it's difficult to dislike Ramona. And to the movie's credit, it lets her be a real kid instead of trying to make her super-cutesy. The family drama feels real, especially in this economy, we sympathize with Ramona's plight. And there's one tragedy...well, let's just say that it's heart-wrenching. The story may be scattershot and the movie has a "paint-by-numbers" feel at times, but this is a good family movie and it never talks down to it's pint-sized audience.

Ramona and Beeezus somehow finds a way to have an incredibly long piece of paper, even in the midst of woe, on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The film has been letteboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 23 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, as it shows no overt grain and no defects from the source material. This is a very colorful film and the colors look great here. The image is never too dark or bright. The level of detail is good, as is the depth. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.0 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are good, especially when alerting us to off-screen sounds. The surround sound effects work well during Ramona's fantasies, as do the subwoofer effects.

The Ramona and Beeezus Blu-ray Disc contains a selection of extras. The Disc offers seven DELETED SCENES which run about 6 minutes. These are all quite brief and offer some incidental, but not indispensable, moments cut from various scenes. We get a 3-minute GAG REEL. "Show & Tell Film School" (7 minutes) has Director Elizabeth Allen giving an overview of the filmmaking process. "My Ramona with Author Beverly Cleary" (4 minutes) contains a short interview with the author, as well as praise from those involved in the film. "A Day in the Life of Joey King" (5 minutes) follows the actress from her hotel to the set as she goes through her working day. "Selena & Joey Audition Footage" (2 minutes) shows the two actresses trying out for their roles. "Fox Movie Channel Presents: Life After Film School with Director Elizabeth Allen" (22 minutes) allows the filmmaker to discuss her career and working-style. Finally, we have the THEATRICAL TRAILER for the film.