“There is something more powerful than La Llorona – a power that takes away parents not children. It is called the United States.”
This book is the other one we read in our English unit along with Messy Roots, and I generally enjoyed it more (also, thinking about it now it would probably have been smart to do them as a joint review but it’s too late now so I’ll just link my Messy Roots review here).
The Distance Between Us is a memoir by Reyna Grande about her experience being left in Mexico while her parents went to the US (referred to as El Otro Lado in the book, which means the other side in Spanish), her experience as an illegal child immigrant after she goes to the US, and her experience through her childhood and look for higher education in general.
I really enjoyed this book and I think the story it tells is one that needs to be told more often. Also, Reyna Grande is an incredible storyteller and the way she tells it makes it seem so incredibly personal, not just to her but also to the reader. It was honestly just such a good book and I would highly recommend it. People honestly just need to read this book, it’s just such an incredibly meaningful book. Although it speaks about Reyna’s experiences, it doesn’t just tell her story but the story of an experience shared by many kids whose parents left in search of a better life and who might or might not have found one.