At the age of nine, author Reyna Grande crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to reunite with her family. But life and perhaps the added strain of separation, had torn them apart in her new country.
The dream of a new life in America, no matter the dreamer, takes hard work. Grande is a reminder that the tools of that work are hard to come by.
Grande's memoir, The Distance Between Us, tell the story of her early life in the impoverished city of Iguala, Mexico, living with cruel relatives and left to fend for herself along with her two siblings.
Reuniting with her father, who had been working in America, opened doors for the young girl but time and circumstance had ended her parent’s marriage and adjusting to her new country became defined by their struggles with neglect and abuse.
Writing was Renya Grande’s escape and path forward.
This year’s One Book Yuma selection is a follow up memoir to The Distance Between Us.
A Dream Called Home follows Grande’s journey as a young first-generation college student and her struggles to build a life, reconcile her family trauma, and navigate the isolation of being in an early 90s environment where there weren’t many other students that looked like her, and even fewer sharing her love of writing.
Grande is our guest ahead of her appearance March 1st at One Book Yuma events at Arizona Western College in Yuma and The Yuma Main Library.
Grande is the author of several books and novels, including The House on Mango Street, and Across a Hundred Mountains.
Grande begins by talking about memoir – and how she transformed her memories to treat them like the writer she always dreamed to be.
