La distancia entre nosotros: Version juvenil

Gr 5-10–A resonant translation of the young-readers edition of Grande’s adult memoir focuses on her childhood experiences as an immigrant with a fractured family. It starts with Reyna living in Iguala, Mexico, with her paternal grandmother and older siblings while her undocumented parents work in the United States. Two years later, Mámi returns, divorced, with new baby Betty in tow. Eventually, 10-year-old Reyna accompanies Pápi and her older sister and brother across the U.S. border to join his new family in Los Angeles. As Reyna and her siblings struggle to adapt to life in the United States, Pápi’s alcohol-use disorder aggravates their situation. When Mámi and Betty also move to Los Angeles with Mámi’s new partner, Reyna’s alliances are once again tested. Her efforts to emotionally heal her family are successful by book’s end, but her parents’ dream to one day move their family back to Mexico is quashed, and Reyna stays in the U.S. after obtaining citizenship. Tween and teen readers will find young Reyna’s challenges relatable as Grande recounts the circumstances that forced her family to move often. Traumatic experiences once buried are unearthed chapter by chapter as Grande looks back at how her migration history made her the person she is today.