Book Being Reviewed:
Grande, R. (2012). The Distance Between Us. New York, NY: Washington Square Press.

Reviewer:
Eunice Humphrey

Genre:
Memoir/Biography

Subject Headings:
Family Dynamics, Grief & Loss, Multicultural/Cross-Cultural Issues, Poverty-Rural, Racial/Ethnic Identity, Trauma

Review:
The Distance Between Us is a memoir of the truth behind the immigration issue that is affecting all of us. The author shares her experience of being left in her country with her grandmother and sibling, suffering from separation anxiety, poverty, and not knowing when she would reconnect with her parents. She shares about her experience crossing the boarder to the United States. She talks about the reasons many Latino immigrants dream of coming to the United States. The everyday struggles of living in a third world country and the continual desire to keep ones culture and adapt to the new one. She shares her relationship with her parents, including her mother’s depression, her father’s alcoholic and abusive manner. She shares stories of her siblings and their survival techniques, their adventures, and their loneliness. The book can assist counselors in many ways, especially those working with the immigrant population. Many children, adolescents, and immigrant adults suffer trauma when crossing the border. The book is an exceptional resource as the author does a great job of describing the hardships that are experienced when a child is left behind or the difficulties of crossing the border and then the desire to belong once in the United States. The book covers issues of assimilation, acculturation, and overcoming obstacles that seem impossible to overcome. The book can help counselors become multiculturally aware of the struggles immigrant families face before, during and after the migration.