The Distance Between Us: Young Readers Edition

by Reyna Grande

Award-winning author Reyna Grande shares her compelling experience of crossing borders and cultures in this middle grade adaptation of her “compelling…unvarnished, resonant” ( BookPage ) memoir, The Distance Between Us .

When her parents make the dangerous and illegal trek across the Mexican border in pursuit of the American dream, Reyna and her siblings are forced to live with their stern grandmother, as they wait for their parents to build the foundation of a new life.

But when things don’t go quite as planned, Reyna finds herself preparing for her own journey to “El Otro Lado” to live with the man who has haunted her imagination for her long-absent father. Both funny and heartbreaking, The Distance Between Us beautifully captures the struggle that Reyna and her siblings endured while trying to assimilate to a different culture, language, and family life in El Otro Lado (The Other Side).

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Middle Grade, Cultural, Family, Latinx

336 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2016

About the author

Reyna Grande is the author of three novels, Across a Hundred Mountains, which received a 2007 American Book Award; Dancing with Butterflies, which received a 2010 International Latino Book Award, and A Ballad of Love and Glory, which was a Los Angeles Times Book Club selection in 2022. In her memoir, The Distance Between Us (Atria, 2012) Reyna recounts her experiences as a child left behind in Mexico when her parents emigrated to the U.S. in search of work, and her own journey to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant at the age of nine. Its sequel, A Dream Called Home, was published in 2018. Her latest book is Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings, an anthology by and about undocumented Americans.

Reviews

[Willow Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is by far the best nonfiction novel I've ever read. It was all the author's true life story, but the way she told it just made it seem so real. I was right there with her, in Mexico, crossing the border, in the slums of Los Angeles. And not only could I imagine the scenes, but I could also feel the emotions associated with them, and it was just absolutely incredible.

It brought up some really hard decisions, one of the main ones being whether or not to split up your family in search of a better life. Is it better to live in poverty but be together as a loving family or to have more opportunities but be split up and unhappy? And honestly, I don't think that it is better. Obviously, I can't speak for the author, or for anyone else for that matter, but for me personally, I'd rather be poor but together. The author tied this theme throughout the novel in such an amazing way, showing the conflict of feeling that arises from situations such as hers.

This is such a good book for kids to read in school, and although it does deal with some weighty topics, I think that they're important to discuss, or at the very least to be aware of. In the end, I'm so glad that I chose to read this book, and I absolutely think that this is something that everyone should read.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the book was fairly touching to read, it felt like there were so many characters who we were meant to forgive, but you really don't feel like it because all of their excuses for why they did what they did were weak.

[Lorrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this at the encouragement of my middle school daughter who said that it was her favorite read so far this year. I have not read the original from which this young reader edition was based. However, I thought that this edition did a nice job of handling difficult topics in such a way that was appropriate for middle school audience. It is a strong memoir that facilitates discussion on important topics like immigration and domestic abuse.

[Stephanie Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad this topic was tackled and provided a way to talk about difficult topics either others. The perspective of a child made it difficult for me to read as it also brought up some of my own experiences and feelings - however the way she wraps the book up in the end i was able to find hope for both her future, others like her and myself

[Zoey Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir was a very heartfelt story. It describes the life of 4 children whose parents had abandoned them. The main character who narrates this memoir, Reyna Grande has to constantly take care of her 3 younger siblings as she takes over being the adult. It made me sorrowful for her because all she wants is someone to love and take care of her the way she does for her siblings. It is a very heartbreaking novel that contradicts childhoods. It gave a new perspective on life and changed my way of living. I would really recommend this book for the story it told and how beautifully it was written.

[Annamaria A-F · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this incredible book, Reyna Grande does an amazing job of telling the very difficult story of her life. During the course of the book Reyna is always longing for someone who is far away, and how she wished that her family would one day be together. But when she finally crosses the border, her life is not what she thought it would be. Reyna is once again separated from the people she loved. She struggles to achieve at school and not be distracted from the world outside. I recommend this book to people that also came from a story like this so they can relate, and young adults.

[Hayley Apuzzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing! It teaches kids that so many kids are going through struggles. Whenever you think your life is tough, take a look at Reyna and her siblings. They’re still positive, but they have lost mother and father because they crossed the border. Soon enough, they’re crossing the border with their father. Then the father and mother get a divorce. You will never believe this is life turning book! So interesting, thank you Reyna Grande!!

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've loved every book written by a Latina author. To the power of "reading about characters who lived in a world like my own, characters with the same skin color as mine."

[Marita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very powerful memoir!

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this story will resonate with so many of my ELD students. It’s depressing as hell, but still remains a story of perseverance and hope. My only complaint is I wish it was a bit shorter. I will teach it next year and see how we manage this page count.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

While there are many moments in this memoir that are heart-wrenching and downright depressing, there are also moments of joy, beauty, and triumph. Drawn from the author's personal experiences growing up in Iguala, Mexico, first with her paternal grandmother, then her mother, and then her maternal grandmother, the story offers hope for young readers that no matter how challenging their life situation, there is something better out there. In Reyna's situation, her father left Mexico to earn a living in the United States, planning to return and build his dream home on his family land. Eventually, Reyna's mother joins him, leaving Reyna, her older sister Mago, and older brother Carlos to fend for themselves. She describes extreme poverty and feeling left out and lost. After her parents split up and her mother returns home, things don't get much better. When her father visits the village, Reyna persuades him to take all three youngsters back to LA with him. It takes three attempts to successfully cross the border, and even once the family is settled in with their father and Mila, his new wife, Reyna continues to feel the distance between her father and her. She struggles with school and the language and is confused by various holidays and her father's strict and abusive ways. While some of this will be familiar to anyone who's read many immigration stories, Reyna's story is so personal and so riveting that it won't matter. Plus, hers addresses an aspect of immigration not often covered in the literature--the experiences of those left behind as they try to justify their parents' decisions and yet somehow feel unworthy even while the emotional distance outstrips the physical distance. Readers will finish the book with conflicted emotions about Reyna's father who encouraged his children to dream big and to go to school but who also relied on physical punishments to keep them in line. This woman is a gifted writer, and I hope she will continue to tell stories in her own inimitable way. This is an important addition to the canon of immigration literature, and reading it might help readers understand why separating families has such stark consequences. It's hard not to wonder what life might have been like for Reyna's family, particularly her father, had conditions been different.

[Kelly]

A really fascinating -- and at times hard to read -- book about Reyna's journey from being left alone with her siblings in Mexico while her parents sought jobs in El Otro Lado (America) in order to help build a better life. Her story doesn't continue in a straight path though. Instead, there are many missteps, many adults who aren't worthy of trust, and finally, a few who helped Reyna achieve what it was she hoped to achieve.

This one is an emotional read. At times it drags a bit and the pacing is off near the end, where years seem to happen within a couple paragraphs. The former may be due in part to this book being adapted for a younger readership from the adult version. But this is a story about an immigrant girl, a true story, and it will resonate with many, many young readers. Reyna does do a great job making this narrative very approachable for the middle school reader.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reyna Grande grew up in Mexico with an abusive grandmother when her parents moved to the US to try to earn more money. Later, her father came and got her and two of her siblings and they moved to LA. He was an alcoholic, also abusive. She struggled because of that - and also because she spoke no English but she was determined to do well in school.
I would be interested to read the original version to see how different it is from the young readers edition.
An excellent addition to a middle school collection, especially since this was the young readers edition. I think many students will be able to identify with it. And those who have not moved from another country may have a greater appreciation for those who have immigrated from somewhere else and the struggles that they may have had to go through.

[Haylie 𝄞]

Last time I wrote this review, I rated it,then proceeded to rate it. I don’t rate memoirs because they’re not fictional and I don’t want to give critiques on something that isn’t mine and is actually someone’s story. This story makes me feel sorrow for those who had to endure this.

[AlaniG705 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. I think this was the highlight book of the summer. This book was so beautifully written, talking about Reyna's difficulty in feeling loved by her parents while growing up and how she kept feeling abandoned every time someone left her. It was truly heartbreaking. She kept believing, even though she kept on loosing people too. This story talks about family complications and how you might be scared to give anyone any trust. Even people who supposedly are supposed to love you can just leave you and replace you. I have read books where the author talks about at-home issues, but never have I read one like this. Usually the kid doesn't know what's going on, or is sad, but here Reyna described it as loosing more than just a family member.
The part I loved is when Reyna talks about whether it would be better to have a life of poverty but to be together, or to have a nice one but have your family torn apart. I think she concluded that what happened to her with her family being torn apart but her having more opportunities was better. IDK. But she said her experiences made her the way she is, and if she had known what was going to happen to her she still would have made the same choices.
Grande was a very inspirational writer and in my opinion I liked this better than "I am Malala" though for some reason I feel like they are similar in a sense. This book is a MEMOIR, which usually I don't enjoy, but this one is a major exception. I had never read something like this, and I hope to read the books Reyna mentions that inspired HER to write this. I can't believe so many kids went through somethings like this too. Not a single book I read talked about the Mexican Immigrants (I don't know if that is what they are called). This was very eye-opening.
I also liked how she incorporated what she was experiencing into what she was thinking, and then putting it in her writing. For example, when she was listening to the three little pigs: "Maybe it wasn't so silly to want to live in such a house. I thought about the little pigs. the ones who got eaten were the two who'd lived in shacks of sticks and straw. But the one who survived the big, bad wolf was the one who lived in a brick and concrete house, just like the one Papi wanted to build for us. Maybe that was why Papi wanted such a house, to protect us, to shelter us from the horrible things outside our door. ...Or what if he never finished it, what if he never returned, and we were left here to face the wolf all on our own?"
What interested me was how she adopted her parents beliefs, and I thought that was important because or how much of an influence parents could be, and how it motivated and encouraged her.
I thought it was pretty cool how she added how she can find her parents through everyday objects. Overall, this book was very smooth yet very deep, and had many themes.

Go down for rest of review👇🏽

*SPOILER ALERT*
this part contains spoilers
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I think she needed someone to rely on. I felt like it was a little cruel how Mago was the one Reyna believed in, and how she was always there whenever the Mom or Dad left, or when the father got angry. The part I think is cruel is how after all their struggles together, Reyna relied on her sister to help her and comfort her and then BAM her sister LEFT her too. That's the part I thought was so sad. It was as if everyone she cared for changed in unexpected ways and eventually pushed her away. It was like nursing an injured puppy back to health and telling it you loved it, and then growing to not care, and then break its legs again and left it where you found it. I think she felt a bit betrayed when she forgave came back to her father, and then her father just threw her out again choosing the one who left him instead of the one who came back.
They sacrificed everything for that house. The family, the child-parent relationships, the marriage, their homelands, and even their own friends had to be left behind. And then the house was taken.
Above when I said This book and I Am Malala were similar, it was because they both missed the beauty of their homes. Homes they couldn't go back to. Even though both of them now live fancier lives, it takes a while to let go of the place you lived every day. They both miss the natural beauty even though some parts were bad.

[Christopher Altamirano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: The Distance Between Us Author: Reyna Grande

This book is a memoir by Reyna Grande and her life in Mexico and the United States. Reyna Grande was born on September 7 of 1975 in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico. She is the author of two award winning novels which are "Across a Hundred Mountains",which received and American Book Award and "Dancing with Butterflies" which received an International Latino Book Award.

The theme of this book is that both physical and emotional distances can separate people. Reyna was separated from her parents due to the long distance between them when her parents were in the United States. When they'd have a chance to see each other, the circumstances have changed and it's no longer the same. They would no longer be the same people Reyna has remembered and missed for so long.

Reyna's parents decide to move to the United States to work and have money. They plan to gather enough money to build their dream house in Mexico. Therefore, Reyna and her siblings, Magloria and Carlos remain with their grandma, Evila. At Evila's house they aren't treated very well. It's clear that Evila doesn't like Reyna nor her siblings. Reyna only hopes that her parent's come back soon. In the meantime, Reyna continues to grow and maturing through a variety of experiences. When her mother comes back, things are no longer the same. Reyna now has a new sister Betty show up, and her dad is behind in Mexico. Later on, Reyna along with Mago(Magloria's nickname) and Carlos will move to Mexico with their dad to experience life in "El Otro Lado" (the other side, referring to the US) too.

My favorite part is when Reyna, Mago and Carlos reach the other side. To them it's an entirely different place. There is so much to see, and they go through this experience together. They learn a lot of new things, and although there are a couple of problems, it's worth it.

My least favorite part was the entire time that Reyna, Mago and Carlos had to stay at Evila's house. Evila didn't like them and treated them poorly. She's had them do a lot of chores, had them malnourished, and punish them for little mistakes. However, she treated Elida well, since she was her favored grandchild. At times, Evila would take the money sent to take care of Reyna and her siblings by her parents and use it to treat Elida.

The main character's were Reyna, Magloria and Carlos since they stood together most of the time. These character's were believable and had many things that I believe many of us who also have siblings can relate to. Reyna would be the one who acts up, and as the big sister, Mago would put her back on her place.

My favorite character is Mago. She was like a mother to Reyna and Carlos. She would be the one that would be there for them when there parents couldn't. She comforted Reyna and Carlos at times that they felt despair. And although she was still young, she acted mature.

I could relate the most to Reyna, since I too, am the youngest child. I have my siblings who are much older than me support me too. My father has also left when I was so young that I couldn't remember, just like it happened to Reyna. Me and my siblings have also gone through some tough times together and they've always been there for me.

Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot. There were so many obstacles and distances that separated Reyna's family. But they manage to deal with it. It can also be very emotional at times. I also couldn't wait to learn more about Reyna's career since she did write this memoir.

I would recommend this book to people that know the importance of family, and is interested in seeing how emotional and physical distance can affect it. This book deals a lot about family and the hopes of being together again. Not knowing the importance of family would make this book meaningless. This book can also make people feel hopeful as they read how Reyna, Mago and Carlos deal with their situations.

[Briana Lopez]

Book Review: The Distance Between Us

Are any of you part of an immigrant family? Have you ever had to experience the trauma of being separated from your family? Well in this novel Reyna Grande has. Reyna’s father, Natlio, had left to the United states in search of providing a better life for his family, but soon after Reyna’s mother had to immigrate to the United States in order to help. Mago (Magloria) , Carlos, and Reyna were left behind very young by their parents, hardly having a father figure to look up to and only memories of their mother too long to. This caused feelings of hate, empathy, loneliness and emotional suffering throughout their childhood and adulthood. These three siblings experienced physical and emotional violence after immigrating into the U.S. with their “father”, in search of being part of a family once more. They didn’t have a choice, but to stay with their father after being abandoned by their mother many times. “The Distance Between Us” emphasizes that they longed for their family to be united once again, but soon after they realized that the distance between them was not the only thing separating them, but the emotional gap that didn’t allow them to be together.

In this heartbreaking novel, Reyna uses hope, love and forgiveness to bring the reader along with her never imaginable experiences. Reyna’s struggles evolved around her sister specifically and her father. Throughout her childhood, Reyna looked up to her older sister, Mago, as her “little mother” and had a strong connection with her sister. After immigrating to the United States, that bond changed after realizing that in her fathers eye’s Mago would always be the first one to make him proud. This created competition between Reyna and her sister, but soon it led to Reyna being left alone when her two siblings turned out to disappoint their family, leaving Reyna with no support from her father to pursue her dreams. With all of the chaos in her life Reyna managed to find her safe place in writing and found the courage to leave her toxic household behind.

Since Reyna was a little girl she had always wanted her father to return to them, and found fault when it came to her father destroying her family. Like many others, Reyna thought that her whole life was meant to make others proud and how afraid she felt specifically when it came to being abandoned by those who she loved. Soon after, Reyna realized that she had accomplished so much, despite the doubt, violence, and the resentment she felt toward her family's actions. “I thought about my father holding my hand, about how afraid I was that he would go of me.” She
Had come across this feeling every time she felt that she was not strong enough to be without those who she loved, especially the moment she realizes she is finally part of her father’s life. Reyna realized that she had gotten so far without support from the people she most loved, and she saw herself “ at the water’s edge, holding tightly to my father’s calloused hand. And I let it go.” I personally really enjoyed and identified with this book because Reyna does a great job of conveying her feelings of solitary, even though she always had hoped that things would soon turn out to be how she had always imagined. This is demonstrated when Reyna states that the man she idealized did not exist.

For readers like me that have identified with the lesson Reyna’s novel, The Distance Between Us, which is that distance is not only physical, but cut’s deep into our emotions too that separates us from others. For unfamiliar readers, this novel might convey a different perspective of the struggles not a lot of people go through on a daily basis when it comes to the separation not only physically but emotionally of those who you love.

[Tami Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book. It was hard to read at time and very very real.

It's an immigrant story. It's about a young girl you struggled all the way through life. She struggled in in her hometown of Iguala, Mexico and she struggled when she immigrated over to the United States. It was very interesting to see her list the pros and cons of both places. In Iguala, she suffered from poverty but there she had a home. She could speak the language, she had friends, she wasn't discriminated because of her race, and she had her family. In the United States all her basic needs were met but she had a harder time in school because of the language barrier, she felt like a. fish out of water, and... her father was physically abusive.

That was hard to read (and this is the Young Reader's Edition). Reyna Grande was very honest on her feelings towards her father. How he went from someone she idolized as her hero to someone she came to knew in reality as man who didn't know anything else but abuse. The excuse others made for him was that "he doesn't know anything else" or "that's what he was raised with." It explains the behavior but it doesn't justify it and it's painful to see what she had to live with in order to stay in the United States. It was nice to see that after losing everything, the father did turn over a new leaf and Reyna never gave up on him. She loves her father and she knew that the man she idolized was in there somewhere.

Despite all her failed mentors in her Abuela Evila, her mother, her father, and Mila, she did have people who had her back. One that was always there for her in the beginning was Mago. Mago was her "little mother" from as back as she could remember. Mago protected her, Mago raised her, and Mago made sure that she got what she wanted (even a Quinceañera). Reading that chapter showed me how independent, ambitious, and caring Mago is. She gave Reyna her Quince because she wanted to she that she could but also... to make her little sister happy. Reyna's Abuela Chinta and Tia were also very supportive during their time in Iguala. The fought for the kids during their abusive times with their mother and Abuela Evila but couldn't do much more than speak up for them. The last mentor Reyna had was in Diana, her old English professor. She encouraged Reyna to write and to explore her talents. She gave Reyna a home when her father was arrested. She saw something good in Reyna and nurtured it so that would have the opportunity to explore it. It was satisfying to read Reyna's chapter on Diana because by then you know, she was going to be okay.

It's a very sad story because there is so much loss, separation and suffering. The had to struggle so much than they could ever imagine to immigrate to the United States, but Reyna says in her book that she wouldn't have it any other way because they opportunities that got in return... are priceless.

TL;DR: If you want to get a look into poverty from the eyes of someone who has lived and overcame it. Read this book.

Quote:

What I got out of it: An appreciation for what I have and my opportunities. Also a desire to pursue my dream as an English professor.

[Veronica A · Rating 5 out of 5]

IS 289- Readers' Advisory
Realistic Fiction Book Review

This 2016 “Young Reader” edition of The Distance Between Us, originally published in 2012 by Mexican-American author Reyna Grande has been “modified for a young audience”. Originally recommended for more mature students with at least an 8th grade reading level, this new version of the book is branded as being appropriate for readers between 10-14 years old. Simplified edits and slight rearrangements of the order in which details are presented to the reader trims the book down from 368 pages to 336 pgs.

**This book may be triggering to readers with similar experiences of trauma as relating to the dangers of border crossings, immigration status and discrimination, and the emotional pain of parental abandonment.

Although this book is based on Grande’s own personal life experiences as a child forced to make the harrowing trek across the Mexico-U.S. border, and is usually marketed as an auto-biography or memoir, Grande has gone on the record to emphasize that this is indeed a work of fiction. I’d say the branding attests not merely to the use of her own name and those of her family members, but also to her skill in realistic worldbuilding and authenticity in her portrayal of how and why people like her parents, and later, herself, decided to leave Mexico and their families behind for “el otro lado”- "the Other Side"- the United States.

Expectedly, there’s a new cover for the Young Reader edition- the relatively simple art with muted colors appeals to younger audience while expanding on the original portrayal of the young main character, here with village homes behind her, gazing beyond a gateway of desert fauna and rocky landscape to a city lying just beyond a train track border. An impressive and exciting endorsement by the preeminent Mexican-American author Sandra Cisneros is also featured, without taking the reader’s attention away from the finer details. I think it is a fantastic reinterpretation of the powerful photographic cover of the original.

Earlier this year, I had the great fortune of personally working with Reyna in my position as Project Coordinator for the Creando Enlaces binational library conference. A number of the conference committee members, who work in various public library roles across the state, personally recommended Reyna Grande for our 2022 keynote speaker; recalling their own enjoyment of The Distance Between Us as well as its popularity with their school districts and patrons where Hispanics make up a large percentage of the local demographic.

[Natalie Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this powerful memoir, Reyna Grande shares her compelling experience of crossing borders and the value of cultures. Reyna’s parents make the dangerous and illegal move across the Mexican border in hope of achieving the American dream. While her parents are crossing the border, Reyna and her siblings have to stay with their grandmother. After things don’t go as Reyna had hoped, she makes the trip to “El Otro Lado” (The Other Side) to live with her father. While the story is both funny, touching and heartbreaking, it really captures the struggles kids go through trying to move into a different country for the American Dream. It shows all the struggles Reyna and her siblings endured while trying to assimilate to a different culture, language, and family life in “El Otro Lado”. This Young Reader’s book really emphasizes the power of a Mexican immigrant’s story, and this was an eye-opening book.

Teachers should implement the biography of Reyna Grande in this memoir with grades 5th and higher. There are a lot of different activities and instructional methods you could use with this memoir. By reading the book aloud with students and introducing a new genre could be of use. Reading biographies or autobiographies and do research on them by reading this book. Another instructional method with this could be discussing the topic of immigrants and real-life stories that people go through. Students should be educated on the life of immigrants who do cross the border illegally to find a better life in America. As well as, crossing content such as social studies in with reading and language arts with the use of the book.

The Distance Between Us was a WOW book for me because you don’t normally read an impeccable memoir on an immigrant’s life. I enjoyed the story of Reyna Grande’s life and her trials and tribulations during her time in Mexico with her grandmother as well as moving to America. I feel the book was well-written and enjoyed reading it. I definitely had mixed emotions for her parents and the situations in the story she was put through. Overall, I loved the book and the powerful message it drove home. I would recommend people read it, because it does make you sit back and go “WOW” after finishing it.

[Cherilyn Munoz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immigration will always be a touchy subject yet in this book, there was nothing to negatively portray immigration. This book truly shows how difficult it is to live without your parents and how increasingly difficult it is to move forward when there are added problems of an abusive father and being undocumented.

I love this book because of the way the author wrote this from a first-hand experience. The author could describe instances that made her feel ashamed, mad, and determined. Although people travel to the United States they want a better life and the fact that the children have to live in poverty this drives the point home of how difficult life in another country can be and how cruel people have been towards children left alone without their parents. I truly think this book allows you to think about how we are quick to judge the children and put the blame on them when in reality the children are part of the effect.

I think of how the book address various issues such as an abusive father is necessary. The author struggled with these issues yet prevailed and could become the person she is today. I thought about how difficult children have it when their fathers or their only parent pushes to break them further. I think of how this relates to not just her but to other children who are also terrified of being discovered their legal status. This puts things into perspective of them and the happy ending makes me glad that the author wrote this book. It addresses not just immigration but poverty, abuse and being terrified in a new country having to adapt to not just the language but to the customs as well.

[Franchesca Tedaldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about survival, anger, pain, confusion and mostly about abuse (emotionally as well as physically). Seen through the eyes of a child. Reyna lived it and tried her whole life to understand it. Mexican parents leave their 3 children with the grandparents so they could seek a better life for their children. They went to the “otro lado “ the other side, meaning across the border into the US. What was supposed to be one year turned into eight. The children were not welcomed at the grandmothers home and were dirty, starved and beaten. Mom returns with another child and says she has broken up with the dad. Dad with his new girlfriend, comes and takes three of his children with him across the border. The children were elated to be leaving the abusive dirty environment which they had lived in.
Turns out life in the US (LA to be exact) wasn’t all roses and sunshine either. Their dad was equally as abusive as the grandmother ( his mom). Apple didn’t fall far from the tree it of course. Reyna being the youngest was always looking for love and support from her father ( an alcoholic) but only felt invisible and demeaned constantly. The story goes on to tell how no matter how much she tried to make him proud of her, he was just in his own alcoholic world and only went to work every day and drank all night. A lot transpires with all three siblings and their US experience. I do recommend this book. It’s written for young adults so the writing isn’t complicated or mature.

[Thanh Tu Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 pages in and I was hooked. Mostly because I was upset and frustrated with the way Reyna, Carlos, and Mago were being treated by their grandmother.
150 pages in and I was relieved. I was glad they crossed the border safely and I got overly excited for their new lives.
250 pages in and my heart ripped out. Although our journey to the US was very different, this was when I found myself in the words she was writing. My first time returning to Vietnam after 9 years was everything Reyna wrote about upon her return to Mexico. Later on, her journey moving away from home and pursuing her higher education is just like my story. Within those last chapters, I realized that although our upbringings were very different, we met at some point and we walked a parallel path toward a dream not just of our own, but a dream of our parents and their sacrifices.
A story told through a voice of a young child with all her innocence yet told a beautiful story and asked the questions that would make any adults think about for a long time. Why they have to make it so difficult when kids just want to be united with their parents? Was it better to be poor but together? Or was it better to try to find a better life, even if it meant breaking up your family? If I had known what life would be like, would I have still followed him to the other land?

[Mrs. Hahn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Grande describes how her parents moved to the US, leaving their children in Mexico with a stern grandmother; split up after having another baby; began new relationships; and ended up living different lives in California after Grande's father smuggled them across the border.

This book was eye-opening. Life in Mexico was harsh, her parents' struggles were difficult, and life was lacking both with a neglectful mother and an abusive father. Once in the US, Grande relied on her stepmother occasionally, but it was her older sister Mago who became her "little mother," supporting her emotionally, as well as boosting her self-esteem by throwing her a quinceanera and later by helping her with prom. In spite of the abuse, her father's insistence that she get an education ensured that Grande focused on that goal, so that she could be successful without simply relying on someone else. The support of several teachers was essential to her success.

Grande and her siblings were lucky enough to get green cards and eventually naturalization and citizenship through a Reagan-era amnesty program... a goal that was nearly obliterated when her father returned to Mexico to try to win back the house he'd built on his mother's land, that a sister essentially took over.

[Pernia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartbreaking story brilliantly told in this version adapted by the author. She begins with her childhood in Mexico living with her father’s cruel mother. Her parents have gone to El Otro Lado, or the United States, to eek a living, send back money and build a brick home of their dreams.

The strong longing Reyna has for her family is profound. The poverty she describes is hard to read and is coupled with cruelty and neglect by her grandmother.

The pacing of the story is phenomenal, she knows how to describe these moments and paint a picture of her childhood.

Eventually her mother returns, as her husband had found another woman.

Later her father returns and Reyna, her sister Mago, and brother Carlos make the dangerous trip across the border with the help of a coyote. Now they live in Los Angeles and their standard of living has improved, but her father is an alcoholic and she suffers years of abuse and terrible beatings.

She does finish high school and attend community college, and one of her teachers becomes her mentor, sharing her home and introducing Reyna to Latina and Chicano writers. The story ends with a graduation at UC Santa Cruz.

[Mmtimes4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

When her parents make the dangerous and illegal trek across the Mexican border in pursuit of the American dream, Reyna and her siblings are forced to live with their stern grandmother, as they wait for their parents to build the foundation of a new life.

But when things don’t go quite as planned, Reyna finds herself preparing for her own journey to “El Otro Lado” to live with the man who has haunted her imagination for years: her long-absent father. Both funny and heartbreaking, The Distance Between Us beautifully captures the struggle that Reyna and her siblings endured while trying to assimilate to a different culture, language, and family life in El Otro Lado (The Other Side). GR description

This is a book of hope for a better life. Miss Grande overcome her circumstances in Mexico and in the United States to become a college graduate and published author. It is hard to read about the abuse she endured but necessary so you understand her life. A book I definitely didn't want to put down. It also opens my eye to immigrant's reasons for wanting to leave their horrible dangerous poverty stricken living conditions.

[Mercedes]

While reading this book I had my box of tissues by my side. The story is about a journey that started in a town in Guerrero, Mexico and ended in L.A. CA. When we talk about immigrants, we always refer to those who crossed the border and are working or looking for work in the US. Grande shows us the other side of the coin when she portrays the injustices lived "back home" when her parents left to go to "el otro lado" meaning the USA.
This is a memoir about Grande's experiences as a child immigrant, living with alcoholism and domestic violence, and her effort to survive and obtain a higher education.

Though this is a story of survival and success, throughout the book I had many feelings of anger, sadness, worry and desperation at time, but hope was always present along the process. The thought that many families go through this process, is unbearable. It makes be more compassionate and understanding with the people I encounter in my path.

I want to say so much more, but just this: read the book, learn about this one family that, in a way, is a representation of many families - successful or not, - parents' struggles to provide a better life style to their children.

[Stephanie Tournas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reyna Grande's memoir, originally published in 2012, has been modified for a young audience. It is is the story of the author's impoverished childhood in rural Mexico, and her parents' efforts to provide a better life for their children. Grande and her siblings are shunted between grandmothers as her father, and then her mother, leave them to make the dangerous journey illegally to "El Otro Lado." She describes being the poorest of the poor, enduring hunger, deprivation and then grief as her parents flee for a better life. At the same time, she notices the beauty around her and realizes how much she wants to read and learn. When she makes it over the border with her father, life begins again as an illegal immigrant. The reader sees her go from a scared eight year old ESL leaner to a star writer and student. Her relationship with her beloved sister Mago and her efforts to please her increasingly abusive father make this a rich and complex saga of family and immigration. Includes photos. The author describes her life with clarity and poetry and now I want to read her novels.

[Soph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gosh, such an amazing and heart-wrenching book. I am so happy to have finally read it! I got this book when I was walking with my friend in a neighborhood I hadn't gone to and I saw a little library and decided to look inside. There weren't any interesting books except for this book which caught my eye immediately. I read the blurb on the back cover and knew I had to try it out. Well, now that I've read it I'm so grateful that the universe brought me this book. Reyna Grande is an amazing woman who went through so much from her childhood to her young adult years. The amount of bravery, unselfishness, and compassion this woman had when she was just so young was remarkable. While reading this book I was met with knowledge of my own privilege, the struggles of immigration, and the realization that everyone can relate to other people whether it be something small or big. I loved this book so much and will be putting this book in my neighborhood's little library! I hope a kid picks this fantastic memoir up and learns from it and does good to our world.

[Karen Bruning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting to teach nonfiction means reading the nonfiction books available, right? This was the first one that I actually read (and the only one I read all the way through. Although I read a LOT of a lot of them!) - and I grabbed it because I had thought it would be free verse (mistaking it for ANOTHER book. Perhaps 20+ options were too many?)

Anyways!

I start reading this with my students, while they're reading their books, and a kiddo asks me if I like it. And I do. (I did!) But parts of it made me SO MAD!!!!

Two weeks later, I'm just over halfway through and one of my challenge students is already ahead of me in the book. But I LOVED talking to her about it! Her sly "oh, you're gonna be even MORE MAD" comments were just the best. Absolute best.

And at the very end of the book? *SPOILER* WHEN SHE WAS GOING TO DROP OUT OF COLLEGE TO CARE FOR HER ABUSIVE FATHER WHO HAD DISOWNED HER AFTER ABANDONING HER?????????????? HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOY I would have rage quit if that had happened. The maddest I ever got! But I did honestly enjoy this book. Highly recommend!