Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The Distance Between Us: Young Readers Edition


By Reyna Grande

            Age Range: 10 - 14 years
            Grade Level: 5 - 9
            Hardcover: 336 pages
            Publisher: Aladdin
            Language: English
            ISBN-10: 1481463713
            ISBN-13: 978-1481463713

Award-winning author Reyna Grande shares her compelling experience of crossing borders and cultures in this middle grade adaptation of her “compelling…unvarnished, resonant” (BookPage) memoir, The Distance Between Us.

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 Between Us beautifully captures the struggle that Reyna and her siblings endured while trying to assimilate to a different culture, language, and family life in El Otro Lado (The Other Side).


Bring Christmas Cheer to a Child in Need!



Message from Reyna Grande:

This December I'm going to Iguala to hold my annual Christmas Toy Giveaway. Christmas is a special time of the year in many countries, and here in Iguala, where 70% of the population lives in poverty, children now more than ever need those special times full of joy and happiness.  For the past two years, with help from family and friends, old and new, I was able to buy over 700 toys! This year I hope to buy just as many, or more if possible. The Christmas Toy Giveaway is something the children have been looking forward to all year and I will not disappoint them! 

The children in my hometown of Iguala, Guerrero in Southern Mexico are living in a place full of poverty, violence, and instability. Ever since September 2014, when 43 college students were forcibly disappeared in my hometown, things have gone from bad to worse. Since then, about 120 mass graves have been found around my hometown. Many more people have been killed or disappeared. Cartel gangs have been fighting for control of the area. Iguala is surrounded by poppy fields to supply the huge demand for heroin in the US. This is the place that the children in my hometown live in. 

Despite this, life in Iguala continues, and children there do the best they can to not just survive, but to thrive. There's so much more I wish I could do for my hometown, but for now, I'm happy to bring some smiles to the children and let them know we care.
Please help me make this Christmas a special joyful time for the children in Iguala, Guerrero! Together we can make a difference. Donate today and tell your friends!




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