Clues in a Letter

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Anita Perez Ferguson

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Golden Secrets

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synopsis

Synopsis
Alicia Ortega, a 14-year-old Mexican girl, struggles to protect her father’s land when she and her older sisters are aggressively courted by land-hungry Yankees and rough-cut fur traders in the Spanish colony. It’s up to Alicia, her sister Clara, and their Chumash friend Nina to shoulder the responsibility of caring for the Ortega home and business. When Alicia’s oldest sister is sent to finishing school in Texas for protection and refinement, the remaining younger sisters must run the rancho alone. Dangers on all sides begin to descend as the sisters are pursued by Yankee immigrant merchants and sailors hoping to cash in on rich lands and access to Pacific ports. Alicia is trying her best to keep her family’s home and business afloat and thankfully, her companion, Nina is there to help. But as an indigenous girl, Nina is valuable to traders, trappers, and surveyors for her knowledge of the Californian terrain and her network of tribal relations. However, she won’t always be there to help Alicia’s family, especially since she has problems of her own. The Franciscan Mission is pressuring her family to convert to Catholicism, a charming trader is courting her, and, worse of all, their tribal territory and tribal ways are vanishing. The girls struggle to protect the Ortega family’s land and black market dock from conniving suitors, but tough family secrets are threatening everything, and Alicia doesn’t know if they’ll be able to survive until her parents return.

bio

Author Biography

Dr. Perez Ferguson is a cross-cultural educator and consultant. Her fiction brings to life the voices of California inhabitants living 200 years ago. She has twice won the Best YA Fiction Award from the San Francisco Writers Conference, 2021 and 2022.

Regarding Broken Promises:

"The tightly wound plot flows effortlessly from one moment to the next.... readers will find themselves inspired by the future Sparrow creates for herself and those around her." — Kirkus Reviews

Her non-fiction promotes the voices of under-represented communities in the twenty-first century. This earned her the 2014 Lacayo Lifetime Achievement Award from the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute. She is an Advisor and Former Chair for the InterAmerican Foundation and a former Visiting Lecturer for the Council for Independent Colleges. She enjoys living and writing on the Pacific coast.

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Author Insight

Clues in a Letter

This letter, left behind by Alicia's older sister, contained many clues that were overlooked. Alicia's life, at 14, changed dramatically when her parents left to enroll her sister in a boarding school for young ladies. They did not explain why they left. Her friend, Nina the household maid, explained the truth to Alicia. The story of Golden Secrets begins with a secret and many more revelations are encountered the longer Mama and Papa are away from the family home, Rancho Refugio. Golden Secrets reads like an adventure, a mystery, and a history of colonial California before it became a state. Join me here weekly to learn more. Release date: Fall 2021

Book Excerpt

Golden Secrets

Dear Sisters,
                        I am on the way to the Laredo School for Young Ladies. Imagine that: I am now a young lady. I am excited to travel and enroll with the finest girls from the best familias in all the northern territories.
                        Mama and Papa insisted on coming. I apologize for taking them from you. They were in such a hurry to see me off to school. I cannot imagine why. Clara, you can take over my sleeping loft. Alicia, someday you will understand why older girls need privacy. Nina, take good care of my sisters.
                        I said my goodbyes to dear Captain Harris—my sailor with the ocean blue eyes. Someday soon I will be Mrs. Harris. Also, I gave my confession to Padre Romo to prepare for this journey. Write to me when your spelling improves. I may be too busy to respond but will remember you in my prayers.
                        Your sister, Dolores
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Anita Perez Ferguson

Golden Secrets

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

Book Excerpt

Golden Secrets

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