For the author, "home" is many things: sticks and stones of her childhood home in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, a garage, a shared apartment, a dorm room, a foreclosed tract house in one of Los Angeles' most dangerous neighborhoods, and ultimately, her books built of dreams and words.
After graduating from college, Reyna realizes she cannot make a living purely from writing, so she accepts a teaching challenge in one of the toughest middle schools in Los Angeles. The tone is honest and matter of fact, facing tough times and misadventures in work, romance, and family relationships. Grande’s prose is lyrical and engaging with vivid descriptions of characters and settings. This memoir is a beautiful testament to the transformative power of higher education, and celebrates education as a path forward for everyone, including recent immigrants and “Dreamers”. She also steps up to parent her rebellious, teenaged little sister, Betty, who moves in with Reyna in order to finish high school in Santa Cruz. She eventually connects with academic mentors, joins a folklórico dance group and deepens ties with other Latinx students and dancers. At UCSC, Reyna struggles to fit in, and claims space to write while juggling studies, odd jobs, and housing insecurity.
She is armed with determination and a brand new computer purchased on credit. She feels insecure yet discovers strength in her love of literature, writing, and her ambition to build a secure future. She arrives as a community college transfer student. Picking up where her first memoir The Distance Between Us ( La Distancia Entre Nosotros) leaves off, in A Dream Called Home ( La Búsqueda de un Sueño) we follow Reyna north from Los Angeles to the University of California at Santa Cruz. Reyna Grande spans cultures and borders to explore coming of age in California as a young immigrant from Mexico. By Reyna Grande (Simon and Schuster, 2018)
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