A review by readitall199
The Distance Between Us: Young Readers Edition, by Reyna Grande
5.0
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.
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.