A heartfelt, inspiring, and relevant memoir.”įrom bestselling author Reyna Grande-whose remarkable memoir, The Distance Between Us, has become required reading in schools across the country-comes an inspiring account of one woman’s quest to find her place in America as a first-generation Latina university student and aspiring writer determined to build a new life for her family one fearless word at a time.

“Candid and emotionally complex, Grande’s book celebrates one woman’s tenacity in the face of hardship and heartbreak while offering hope to other immigrants as they “fight to remain” and make their voices heard in a changing America.

“This uplifting story of fortitude and resilience looks deeply into the complexities of immigration and one woman’s struggle to adapt and thrive in America. (Oct.2022 California State University Channel Islands Common ReadĢ021 One Book Project Selection–CSU Bakersfield/ Kern County, CAĢ021-2022 San Juan College One Book/One Community Selection, NMĢ021 One Campus/One Book Club, Palo Verde College, CAĢ021 Entering Student Experience, University of Texas, El PasoĢ020-2021 Common Reading Selection Florida International UniversityĢ020-2021 Common Reading Selection Concordia University, TXĢ020 Las Positas College Campus Wide Read Selection, CA This uplifting story of fortitude and resilience looks deeply into the complexities of immigration and one woman’s struggle to adapt and thrive in America. After winning a PEN fellowship, marrying, and publishing her first novel, Grande discovered that writing her story could help her make sense of her troubled past and gain the courage to create a stable life for herself and her new family. Grande explores the complicated relationships of her uprooted family, dissecting a history of abuse (her grandmother verbally and physically abused her mother, who in turned abused Grande and her siblings) and vowing to break the cycle. She worked hard in school, graduated with honors from college, and landed a teaching job in L.A. to help her and two older siblings get to L.A.

Grande then recounts her difficult childhood: her parents divorced and left her with her grandmother in Mexico at age nine, after two failed attempts, Grande made it across the border with the aid of her father, who returned from the U.S. The memoir opens with Grande leaving Los Angeles to attend UC Santa Cruz at age 21, on her way to becoming the first in her family to earn a college degree her parents, both naturalized citizens, were not educated beyond elementary school. Novelist Grande ( The Distance Between Us) writes with strength and passion of her life’s journey-from her birth in a shack in the poverty-stricken Mexican town of Iguala, to success as an author in the U.S.

Reyna grande a dream called home