BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture California The Great California Novel?

If you haven't read Ramona, you should *and not just because I played Senora Moreno in our Girl Scouts play back in 197something.... ) It's a fun read, a melodrama, and a crash course in California history.

What other California novels have you read?

I've never read Ramona, but I remember seeing the 1936 film version (Loretta Young, Don Ameche) on TV ages ago. And who could forget the haunting song "Ramona, I hear the mission bells above . . .")

But I have read Steinbeck's novels, such as Tortilla Flat, Cannery Row and his great work set in the Salinas Valley, East of Eden.

Korie, I used to live in the Hemet area, and they had a "Ramona Days Festival" every year. I was in junior high and high school, at the time. At my mom's work, they'd dress up in the traditional fashions of that time period.

Not too long ago, when I was cleaning out my mom's house for her, I found the poncho she used to wear. She made one that was all girly colors LOL. Pinks and yellow and such. When it cools down I was going to take it to her and see if she remembered it.

I barely remember the story. Maybe I'll get the book, and my daughter and I can read it as a homeschooling project

What lovely memories this article brought! My grandmother taught in one-room schools from 1898 (Started at 16 in Nebraska!) until she was 75 years old, and one of the books she assigned to her seventh and eighth grade students after she moved to California in 1958 was Ramona. When a cousin sent me recently a packet of her classroom notes, there was a simple Ramona pageant script included. Now I'm off to find a copy of the book!

What a great story - thank you for sharing!

I read East of Eden while traveling through France by train in 1984. I traded some forgettable novel for it, and am I glad I did. I've never forgotten that book - Steinbeck's best, in my opinion.

I don't know Hemet really well, but I love Idyllwild.