DOWNEY - Award-winning author Reyna Grande will speak and sign books at the Downey City Library on Monday, May 20, from 6:30-7:30 p.m.Grande's memoir, "The Distance Between Us," tells of her struggle to overcome poverty and her journey to the United States at age 9 to live with the father she hadn't seen for eight years. An undocumented child immigrant, Grande later become the first person in her family to graduate from college, receiving a B.A. and M.F.A. degree in creative writing. Her autobiography was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. The Los Angeles Times called her book, "brutally honest...the Angela's Ashes of the modern Mexican immigrant experience." Grande is also the author of two novels, "Across a Hundred Mountains" and "Dancing with Butterflies," which received an International Latino Book Award. Copies of her book will be available for purchase and signing at the free event. For reservations, call (562) 904-7360, ext. 132.

********** Published: May 2, 2013 - Volume 12 - Issue 03