Ramona is a 1884 American novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson. Set in Southern California after the Mexican–American War, it portrays the life of a mixed-race Scottish–Native American orphan girl, who suffers racial discrimination and hardship. Originally serialized in the on a weekly basis, the novel became immensely popular. It has had more than 300 printings, and been adapted five times as a film. A play adaptation has been performed annually outdoors since 1923.