Hello dear Readers,
Below my book review of A Dream Called Home: A Memoir by Reyna Grande.
Title: A Dream Called Home: A Memoir by Reyna Grande
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Genre: Biographies/Memoirs
Author: Reyna Grande
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: October 2, 2018
Publication Date: October 2, 2018
Language: English
Book Description
From bestselling author Reyna Grande—whose remarkable memoir The Distance Between Ushas 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.
When Reyna Grande was nine-years-old, she walked across the US–Mexico border in search of a home, desperate to be reunited with the parents who had left her behind years before for a better life in the City of Angels. What she found instead was an indifferent mother, an abusive, alcoholic father, and a school system that belittled her heritage.
With so few resources at her disposal, Reyna finds refuge in words, and it is her love of reading and writing that propels her to rise above until she achieves the impossible and is accepted to the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Although her acceptance is a triumph, the actual experience of American college life is intimidating and unfamiliar for someone like Reyna, who is now once again estranged from her family and support system. Again, she finds solace in words, holding fast to her vision of becoming a writer, only to discover she knows nothing about what it takes to make a career out of a dream.
Through it all, Reyna is determined to make the impossible possible, going from undocumented immigrant of little means to “a fierce, smart, shimmering light of a writer” (Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild); a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist “speak[ing] for millions of immigrants whose voices have gone unheard” (Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street); and a proud mother of two beautiful children who will never have to know the pain of poverty and neglect.
Told in Reyna’s exquisite, heartfelt prose, A Dream Called Home demonstrates how, by daring to pursue her dreams, Reyna was able to build the one thing she had always longed for: a home that would endure.
My Thoughts
I did not know about this author until one day when I was at my local library reading through the new non fiction titles on display that I saw A Dream Called Home. Only took seeing it was a memoir and reading a little bit of the book description for me to take it home. I started reading it and after a few pages I knew I needed to own it, to have it on my shelves. I regret about not knowing of Reyna Grande's books sooner because now that I have read A Dream Called Home and being 150 pages into The Distance Between Us I can say without a doubt I love her writing, her voice and the stories she shares with us the readers. One of my favorite writers now for sure.
A Dream Called Home is a beautifully written, honest, transparent memoir. This is actually the thing I like the most about Reyna's writing, she does not sugar coat things, even the most painful and not pretty aspects of her life she tells them with such honesty that you cannot help but sympathize, to understand that what she went through was real, and even though people are not always willing to put on display the darkest moments of their lives but I love how Reyna does it and to me that adds a lot of value, respect and credibility to her story. Of course Reyna also shares her achievements as a college student, all the people who helped her and encouraged her to not give up on her dream of being a writer, how she somehow always tried to help her family as much as she could, having her first baby, and meeting who is now her husband, her struggles but also the rewards on her writing career as such signing her first book deal. All these plus all the no so good moments makes this book in my opinion a masterpiece of a Memoir.
Wendy
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