'The Distance Between Us'
A 2021 Battle Creek Reads Selection
'The Distance Between Us' by Reyna Grande.
When Reyna Grande's father leaves his wife and three children behind in a Mexican village to make the dangerous trek across the border to the United States, he promises to return from "El Otro Lado" (The Other Side) with enough money to build a dream house where they can all live together. His promises become harder to believe as months turn into years. When he summons his wife to join him, Reyna and her siblings must live in the already overburdened household of their stern grandmother. The three siblings are forced to look out for themselves. In childish games, they find a way to forget the pain of abandonment and learn to solve adult problems. When their mother returns at last, the reunion sets the stage for a dramatic new chapter in Reyna's life--her own journey to "El Otro Lado" to live with the man who has haunted her imagination for years, her long-absent father.
Author Reyna Grande will discuss her memoir in a live-streaming talk on Willard's Facebook Page, You Tube, Twitter, and website on Thursday, March 11, at 7 p.m.