The Distance Between Us Reyna Grande

Reyna Grande’s book “The Distance Between Us'' is an autobiography about Grande’s life before and after coming to the United States. It details the toxic relationship Grande had with her parents, from leaving her in Mexico with her siblings to fend for themselves at a young age under the roof of their grandmother, who constantly neglected and abused them to moving to America with their father. Here in this new country, Grande was initially overwhelmed with the country’s beauty and the opportunities that it provided, and just when we thought the story would take a turn, Grande is faced with the abuse of her father and finds it difficult to assimilate into this new country. With the support system of her siblings, and the desire to make her father

It is through this that Reyna is able to make her story personal. Her educational struggles and story of assimilation, is something that many immigrants share, but the story of her family is one that is only shared by her and her siblings. After coming to the United States, Grande is constantly torn apart by her father’s near bi-polar personality and her mothers neglect. Under the roof of an abusive father we see Reyna have to struggle to assimilate out there but also find it difficult to find her place under her own roof. The constantly changing dynamics of the relationship between Papi and the kids is excellently outlined by Reyna. Grande gives explicit details of how their father would abuse them, which although gruesome, gives the reader a vivid experience of how she felt growing up, which is truly a difficult thing to capture and Grande has done an amazing job of that. In their first few months in the country, their father had already become abusive and emotionally distant, and Reyna even at a young age was aware of this. “He didn’t know me at all. And I didn’t know him”(p 191). This emotional distance is the main relationship that Reyna had with her father, and through Reyna’s vivid descriptions we come to understand why Reyna feels as though it was her father who pushed everyone away and not vice versa. Although Reyna does an excellent job villainizing her father in some situations, Reyna also creates a contrasting personality for her father, which is the personality the reader is drawn to. Reyna wonderfully makes her father into an inspiring character in some special moments. “‘One way or another,’ Papi said, “We will stop living in the shadows”(Book 2 chapter 11). Reyna does an excellent job in writing this side of her father. A father who desires only the best for his children, a father who wants his children to live the