2023 One Book Yuma, AZ
2022 California State University Channel Islands Common Read
2022 Silicon Valley Reads Selection, CA
2021 One Book Project Selection–CSU Bakersfield/ Kern County, CA
2021-2022 San Juan College One Book/One Community Selection, NM
2021 One Campus/One Book Club, Palo Verde College, CA
2021 Entering Student Experience, University of Texas, El Paso
2020-2021 Common Reading Selection Florida International University
2020-2021 Common Reading Selection Concordia University, TX
2020 Las Positas College Campus Wide Read Selection, CA
“This uplifting story of fortitude and resilience looks deeply into the complexities of immigration and one woman’s struggle to adapt and thrive in America. ”
-Publisher’s Weekly, STARRED Review
“Candid and emotionally complex, Grande’s book celebrates one woman’s tenacity in the face of hardship and heartbreak while offering hope to other immigrants as they “fight to remain” and make their voices heard in a changing America. A heartfelt, inspiring, and relevant memoir.”
-Kirkus Reviews
From bestselling author Reyna Grande—whose remarkable memoir, The Distance Between Us, has 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. Instead, she found 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.
PRAISE
“Reyna Grande’s A Dream Called Home is a moving memoir about building a family, becoming a writer, and redefining America. Writers in need of inspiration should read this book.” (Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author of The Sympathizer )
“Reyna Grande is a fearless writer and a tireless warrior for the unrepresented and silenced. Her power is growing with every book.” (Luis Alberto Urrea, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Devil’s Highway )
“Reyna Grande’s march towards her brilliant career astonishes me. She makes seemingly-disastrous choices, but bobs and floats through as buoyant as cork. Her mistakes are familiar, but her recovery is unique. Here is a life story so unbelievable, it could only be true.” (Sandra Cisneros, bestselling author of The House on Mango Street )
“Writers like Reyna Grande give us more than a story, more than a book, more than just a slice of their experience or their imagination; they give us a world in which to dwell, a place we can always return to when we need to make sense of the chaos that surrounds us. A Dream Called Home is such a place.” (Valeria Luiselli, award-winning author of Tell Me How It Ends )
“A Dream Called Home is a deeply moving, beautifully written portrait of a young woman’s journey to her own best life against the odds. Reyna Grande is a national treasure; her vision is not only singular, but essential to our contemporary culture. This is a beacon of a book.” (Carolina De Robertis, award-winning author of The Gods of Tango )
