in creative writing from Antioch University. Grande attended Pasadena City College and later transferred to University of California, Santa Cruz, where she obtained a B.A. She went on to become the first in her family to obtain a college degree. as an undocumented child immigrant via an illegal border crossing at the age of about 9. Her father later returned to take her eldest sibling to the United States, but Grande and her other siblings wanted to go as well. He called for Grande’s mother, who left Grande and her siblings with their paternal grandmother. to earn money to build a house in Iguala but wasn't successful. When she was two years old, her father moved to the U.S.

Grande grew up in poverty with her two siblings in Iguala, Guerrero. Reyna Grande (born 7 September 1975, Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico) is a Mexican-American author. When their mother at last returns, Reyna prepares for her own journey to “El Otro Lado” to live with the man who has haunted her imagination for years, her long-absent father.įunny, heartbreaking, and lyrical, The Distance Between Us poignantly captures the confusion and contradictions of childhood, reminding us that the joys and sorrows we experience are imprinted on the heart forever, calling out to us of those places we first called home.Īlso available in Spanish as La distancia entre nosotros.B.A, University of California, Santa Cruz As her parents make the dangerous trek across the Mexican border to “El Otro Lado” (The Other Side) in pursuit of the American dream, Reyna and her siblings are forced into the already overburdened household of their stern grandmother. Reyna Grande vividly brings to life her tumultuous early years in this “compelling.unvarnished, resonant” ( BookPage) story of a childhood spent torn between two parents and two countries. In this inspirational and unflinchingly honest memoir, acclaimed author Reyna Grande describes her childhood torn between the United States and Mexico, and shines a light on the experiences, fears, and hopes of those who choose to make the harrowing journey across the border.

The distance between us by reyna grande