by Mona Lisa Sharp
Reyna Grande’s earnest novel “Across a hundred mountains” addresses a subject that has been in today’s news- illegal immigrants, their families and what pushes them to risk their lives. In Grande’s novel, she describes the story of two girls, Juana and Adelina, and the experiences that collide their worlds together. The book follows a unique storyline by toggling between the two different perspectives of each character, which makes for an intense, can’t put the book down read.
Juana is from a small Mexican village, whose father’s only choice, after foreseen circumstances must travel to el otro lado – the other side, to seek means for his family. The story follows Juana who is in search for her father and the American girl, Adelina whom she encounters in a Tijuana jail. Adelina is from California, who ends up in Mexico after following her older dead-beat lover. The two form a friendship as they journey through their desperate circumstances together.
This novel touches on many aspects of the Mexican culture that many Latinas may have heard stories about from parents, grandparents, or have even experienced themselves. From praying to La Virgen, to selling chicle on the streets, the reader is taken to a part of the struggling Mexican female immigrant culture that is rarely discussed or let alone printed in books. Heavy subjects are brought to light and Grande vividly describes scenes as if writing from her own experiences.
This book is an intense, heart wrenching novel. Grande lures you in with her easy flow of words that captures the heavy subject of immigration and what it does to families and the individuals who attempt to make it… across a hundred mountains.
Now a bit about the author, as taken from http://www.reynagrande.com. Born in Mexico, Reyna was two years old when her father left for the U.S. to find work. Her mother followed her father north two years later, leaving Reyna and her siblings behind in Mexico. In 1985, when Reyna was going on ten, she entered the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant. She later went on to become the first person in her family to graduate from college.
Mona Lisa Sharp studied Behavioral Science and Psychology at San Jose State University. She and her husband, Mark, are proud owners of Harwood Hills Country School, a preschool located in Los Gatos, CA. Mona Lisa dedicates her time to her school and to soup kitchens in her home town of San Jose, CA.