Ramona

I loved this book because it made me cry with its emotional impact. It opened my eyes to the mistreatment of Native Americans and the Spanish/Mexican inhabitants of southern California when the territory was annexed by the United States after the Spanish-American War. 

This is the love story between the mixed-race orphan girl, Ramona, and Alessandro, the head of the Native American sheep shearers. When they fall in love, knowing her aunt, who took her in and owns the rancho, will never let her marry a Native American, they elope. But Alessandro’s tribe is soon driven off their land by… show more.

Ramona is the daughter of an indigenous woman and a Scottish man, living on a large ranchero in southern California in the early 19th Century. She falls in love with Alessandro, but must run away with him because her aunt can’t stand the fact that he is an Indian.

Alessandro progressively loses his land and his sheep, as Americans move into the area. Her story is somewhat based on the changing fortunes of a Tongva woman named Victoria Reid who was educated at Mission San Gabriel.

This beautifully told and romantic story thrilled me when I first moved into the… show more.