photo by Jon Kersey

 

 

Reyna Grande's second novel, Dancing with Butterflies (October 2009), expertly draws the lives of four women in the midst of personal transformation and chaos. One thing binds them, challenges them, and gives them strength—their love for Folklorico.

Elena, in her mid-twenties, mourns the death of her unborn child while contemplating an affair with a seventeen-year-old student. Her younger sister, Adriana, languishes over their dead mother and abusive father, blaming Elena for the voids in her life. Soledad, a Mexican immigrant, yearns for love and a man to truly desire her. Yesenia, the oldest dancer in the group, battles her body's decision to stop dancing. Each woman must find her own way and none of their lives will ever be the same.

An excerpt of this novel is included in Latinos in Lotusland: An Anthology of Southern California Authors, by Bilingual Press.

 

Reyna is also working on the screenplay for Across a Hundred Mountains, her memoir, and a self-help book for young Latina girls called Things My Mama Never Told Me: A Guide to Surviving the Teenage Years