Beverly, Right Here

Beverly, Right Here is a part of the Three Rancheros series. The series follows the journeys of Raymie Nightingale (her real last name is Clarke), Louisiana Elefante, and Beverly Tapinski. The standard definition for “ranchero” is a person who works on a ranch, but none of the girls work on ranches. They come from Florida and are working class. In Raymie Nightingale, the girls go on missions together. They retrieve a library book from a home for older people, and they try to rescue Louisiana’s cat from an ominous shelter, which is how Beverly winds up with Buddy. Due to their teamwork, Louisiana labels them the Three Rancheros. Beverly thinks Louisiana is talking about the Three Musketeers, but Louisiana wants to be different, so she sticks with the Three Rancheros.

In Beverly, Right Here, Beverly and Elmer don’t become friends immediately. In Raymie Nightingale, the three girls aren’t friends from the get-go. Thus, friendships take time to develop. Raymie, Louisiana, and Beverly meet in baton-twirling class. Each girl wants to learn to twirl batons and enter the Little Miss Central Florida Tire Contest. Beverly wants to sabotage the contest. If Raymie wins, she thinks her dad will come back.