We’ve heard a lot about U.S.-Mexican immigration in recent years. But often overlooked is the toll it takes on families separated by the border. Reyna Grande reveals this cost in her memoir The Distance Between Us, providing a rare and invaluable child’s perspective on crossing to El Otro Lado—the other side.
“This is a tremendously affecting book, a chronicle of a prototypical Californian childhood, and a reckoning with memory,” writes John Freeman in a lead-up essay to the second gathering of Alta’s California Book Club. Freeman and Grande will discuss her memoir in a virtual get-together on November 19. You can buy a copy of the book here.
As you read Grande’s book before the club gets together, you might consider these questions:
- How do Grande’s experiences as an immigrant differ from those of people leaving Mexico today?
- How does a child like Grande overcome not knowing English when living in the United States?
- What are some insights you’ve had while reading about Grande’s journey?
- Have your views about immigration changed at all in the course of your reading?
All are welcome to join the California Book Club. And it’s free. Sign up here. | Alta
HEROES
San Francisco will have a Maya Angelou monument after all: the city’s Arts Commission has reversed its decision to reject a design honoring the late poet. New York Times
Read about some other people who deserve statues in San Francisco. Alta
THE SOWER
Lynell George channels the late Octavia E. Butler. We review A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky, George’s new book about the late science-fiction author. Alta
OVERLOOKED LAND
Keenan Norris delves into the often-overlooked Inland Empire in a new essay. The Bay Area author of “One Coyote” talks with his friend and mentor, author Susan Straight. Alta
ACROSS THE POND
Bookshop, an increasingly popular alternative to Amazon—and a California Book Club partner—launches in Britain. One publisher calls it “a positively revolutionary moment in the history of bookselling.” The Guardian. To order titles for the California Book Club, go to the club’s Bookshop page.
COOKING FOR CALM
Samin Nosrat, the Berkeley author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, recommends eight fall cookbooks—“to further distract us.” The titles cover everything from cookies to African cuisine. Twitter
PLEASE WELCOME
Diesel, A Bookstore becomes a California Book Club partner. The Southern California bookshop joins the club’s other bookstore partners: Book Soup, Vroman’s, Books Inc., and Book Passage. Alta
WHAT NEXT
Expect a lot of “crime and violence and drugs” in Viet Thanh Nguyen’s forthcoming novel, The Committed. The Los Angeles author’s set-in-France sequel to the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Sympathizer will also deal with race and the legacy of colonialism. Los Angeles Times
CROWDSOURCING
Eric Idle, the actor and author, suggests that the California Book Club consider the work of Bruce Wagner. Twitter Do you have thoughts on our picks? Send them to info@californiabookclub.com.
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