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 be...

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 t...

Very powerful memoir!

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 livi...

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

E ARC from Edelweiss Above the TreelineIn this memoir, the author shares her experiences growing up in a small Mexican town where her parents wished to build a house. Since the economy was bad, her father went to the US to work, and her mother soon joined him. She and her siblings were left in the care of their father's mother, who didn't much care for them. Eventually, her mother had another daughter, whom she brought back to be cared for, and her father married another woman. Eventually, he br...

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 i...

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

Title: The Distance Between Us Author: Reyna GrandeThis 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 peop...

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 o...

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...

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 peop...

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 gran...

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 occas...

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...

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 Betw...

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.

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."

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 par...

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 w...