Reyna Grande is a highly acclaimed historical fiction author, born in Guerrero, Mexico. She spent her early years in Mexico until the age of nine, after her father left for the United States when she was two, and was later joined by her mother.
Grande has written three novels, Across a Hundred Mountains, Dancing with Butterflies, and A Ballad of Love and Glory. Across a Hundred Mountains received a 2007 American Book Award, and A Ballad of Love and Glory was a Los Angeles Times Book Club selection in 2022. In her memoir, The Distance Between Us, Grande shares her experiences as a child left behind in Mexico when her parents emigrated to the U.S. and her own journey to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant at the age of nine. Its sequel, A Dream Called Home, was published in 2018. Her latest book, Somewhere We Are Human, is an anthology by and about undocumented Americans.
Born in Mexico in 1975, Grande was raised by her grandparents after her parents left her behind while they worked in the U.S. She came to the U.S. at the age of nine as an undocumented immigrant and went on to become the first person in her family to obtain a higher education. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing and Film and Video from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Antioch University. Grande is a sought-after speaker at middle/high schools, colleges, and universities across the nation, and teaches creative writing workshops.