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Rating: 
Summary: An excellent addition to the Dear America series!
Review: "Valley of the Moon" is an excellent historical fiction novel about a Spanish/Indian girl of about 13, Maria Rosalia (Rosa) who works for the wealthy Medina family in Alta California, in 1846.Rosa secretly knows how to write, and when she finds a blank diary cast away by the wealthy Miguela, she decides to keep a diary. She writes about the work that she does on the rancho, festivals, and her friends (and the boy she loves!), and also her wonderings of who her and her little brother's parents really were - and she is determined to find out. However, with the "norteamericanos" taking over her homeland, and thoughts of war in the air, life soon becomes much more complicated for Rosa. This was another excellent novel in the Dear America series, and I'd highly recommend it, as it was very exciting and interesting, and also taught me a lot about the Spanish culture. I'd definitely recommend this book for ages 11 - 14!
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Summary: Should be 10 stars!
Review: One of the wonderful things about this book is that it gives the point of view of the Spanish when the Americans were trying to take over California.
Not only does this book teach you about an important part of history, it also fascinates you with the story of a young girl who doesn't know her past. You will be spellbound as she tries frantically to discover who her parents were. A definite must read.
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Summary: Best of Sherry Garland
Review: Sherry Garland is definitely at her best in this book set in California. You are able to empathize with nearly all the characters and believe that this truly happened.
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Summary: Valle of the Moon
Review: This book is about a mexican slave girl named Maria. Nobody knew she was educated. Only one man knew and that was Senior Jhonston. The main characters where Senior Jhonston, Nelly, Rafaela, Maria, and the owners. In this book, she talks about what happened on certain days. For example, on one day there was a bullfighting contest. On another day a bear wonders into the mission, and her brother and some other guys go to kill it. At the end of the book, Maria finds out who her mother and father are.
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Summary: Valle of the Moon
Review: This book is suposed to be a diary, not a "story" book. Personally, although the story has a nice plot, it reads like a story, and I think it has too many coincidences to resemble "real life". This seems to be fast becoming a trait of the Dear America diaries. I have been collecting them since I was twelve, I am now fifteen and am really noticing the differences in the newer books. The older diaries were really like diaries. Bad things happened, it wasn't all sunshine and smiles. Even though Maria's best friend died, it is glossed over. I think that Valley of the Moon is good historical fiction, but isn't on the same level as some of it's predecessors.
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Summary: Nicole's Review
Review: Valley of The Moon: The Diary of Maria Rosalia De Milagros is a wonderful book and very interesting. It is a Dear America Book written by Sherry Garland, who also wrote A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence. Valley of the Moon is the 1840's diary of a half-Mexican, half-Indian girl who is a servant on a rich Mexican rancho in California. She writes about her daily life and the people in it in her diary. She doesn't worry about holding back her feelings when she writes about her chores, the people she knows, and the Americans taking over California during the Mexican-American War. It was very neat to get the perspective of a Mexican girl - something that is very hard to find. Rosy is 14 years old, growing up in northern California as a servant on the Medina's Rancho. In her diary she writes about the Medina daughters and what she thinks about them (especially the oldest), and about the cattle branding and bull fights which were interesting to watch. In addition, since all Mexicans were Catholic at that time, Rosy tells of how they celebrated the holidays, Christmas and Easter, in Mexican California. She writes about her new best friend, Nelly, and how her own mother died of smallpox in the woods when she was very young. After she died, Padre Ygnaco found Rosy and her younger brother and brought them to the mission, where she learned how to read and write. Later in this book, Rosy sets off to find out the past of her mother and father. This book has 222 pages and 185 of them are the actual diary. The other 37 pages consist of the epilogue, a glossary of Spanish words used in this book, and a historical note. The historical note gives a brief history on how Alta (upper) California became a home for Mexican rancheros and later American settlers. It describes how the Americans took over California during the Mexican-American War, and how the Mexican way of life changed after the gold rush, which started in 1848. In addition, there are pictures in the back of the book showing chores, a bullfight, words to a love song, and the recipe for pastelitos de boda- wedding cookies! Also, there is a green ribbon attached to the book to mark your place when you are finished reading. I would recommend this book for girls ages 12 and up, and for anyone who loves the Dear America Books. This one is very well written and interesting to read. I have read a lot of the Dear America and My America books and this one is one of my favorites!
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Summary: A really great story of a Mexican girl in California!
Review: Valley of The Moon: The Diary of Maria Rosalia De Milagros is a wonderful book and very interesting. It is a Dear America Book written by Sherry Garland, who also wrote A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence. Valley of the Moon is the 1840's diary of a half-Mexican, half-Indian girl who is a servant on a rich Mexican rancho in California. She writes about her daily life and the people in it in her diary. She doesn't worry about holding back her feelings when she writes about her chores, the people she knows, and the Americans taking over California during the Mexican-American War. It was very neat to get the perspective of a Mexican girl - something that is very hard to find. Rosy is 14 years old, growing up in northern California as a servant on the Medina's Rancho. In her diary she writes about the Medina daughters and what she thinks about them (especially the oldest), and about the cattle branding and bull fights which were interesting to watch. In addition, since all Mexicans were Catholic at that time, Rosy tells of how they celebrated the holidays, Christmas and Easter, in Mexican California. She writes about her new best friend, Nelly, and how her own mother died of smallpox in the woods when she was very young. After she died, Padre Ygnaco found Rosy and her younger brother and brought them to the mission, where she learned how to read and write. Later in this book, Rosy sets off to find out the past of her mother and father. This book has 222 pages and 185 of them are the actual diary. The other 37 pages consist of the epilogue, a glossary of Spanish words used in this book, and a historical note. The historical note gives a brief history on how Alta (upper) California became a home for Mexican rancheros and later American settlers. It describes how the Americans took over California during the Mexican-American War, and how the Mexican way of life changed after the gold rush, which started in 1848. In addition, there are pictures in the back of the book showing chores, a bullfight, words to a love song, and the recipe for pastelitos de boda- wedding cookies! Also, there is a green ribbon attached to the book to mark your place when you are finished reading. I would recommend this book for girls ages 12 and up, and for anyone who loves the Dear America Books. This one is very well written and interesting to read. I have read a lot of the Dear America and My America books and this one is one of my favorites!
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Summary: ONE OF THE BEST DEAR AMERICA BOOKS I'VE EVER READ!!!!!
Review: Valley of the Moon: The Diary of Maria Rosalia de Milagros is Sherry Garland's second Dear America Book. In this book, Rosalia, or Rosa for short, is a servant to the wealthy Medina family. She and her brother are orphans. Their mother died of Smallpox on a Catholic mission in Yerba Buena. Rosa has high hopes of finding out who her parents are. Meanwhile, Mexico goes to war with the U.S. An all out exciting book--I won't give away the ending. This book showed me a time period I knew practically nothing about.
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