The Distance Between Us - Notes

Book One: Mi Mamá Me Ama. ## Prologue * Abuela Evila scared Reyna and her siblings with stories of La Llorona, who steals children. * Abuelita Chinta told them not to fear La Llorona and that prayers would protect them. * Neither grandmother told them about the United States, which takes away parents, not children. * In 1980, Reyna was four and didn’t know about the United States, referred to as El Otro Lado. * El Otro Lado had already taken her father, and prayers didn’t stop it from taking her mother too. ## Chapter 1 * It was January 1980, and Reyna’s mother would soon be thirty but wouldn’t celebrate with them. * Reyna asked how long her mother would be gone. * Her mother said, “Not too long.” She closed the suitcase she bought secondhand for the trip. * Reyna knew this time felt different, that