The Distance Between Us: Young Readers Edition

Reyna waits at Abuela Evila’s every day, hoping Mami will return. Meanwhile, the neighborhood children start calling Reyna and her siblings “orphans.” Reyna often gets upset and sometimes considers throwing rocks at the mean children. Even their cousin Élida, who lives next door, calls Reyna and her siblings names. Her parents are in the States, too, but Abuela Evila favors Élida and pampers her.

One day, Evila gives Reyna a coin to go and buy her a needle. On the way, Reyna throws the coin at some neighborhood children when they tease her. She returns home without the money or coin. Evila demands that she go back, apologize, and buy the needle. She obeys and the children say that their father told them they should be grateful they have their family together. The man reminds Reyna her parents left because they love her; then returns her coin. She buys Evila’s needle.

Reyna and her siblings’ relationship with Élida worsens. Élida’s mother often sends presents from the States, which she shows off in front of Reyna, Mago, and Carlos. Evila doesn’t make her do any work either, and Élida often calls her cousins unkind nicknames and insists their mother will never return. All of the children get lice, but Evila washes Élida’s hair with lemon juice and brushes it. She does nothing for Reyna and her siblings’ hair. They also have worms in their stomachs.

One evening, Evila decides to handle Reyna and her siblings’ lice by dumping kerosene on their scalps and wrapping their heads in towels. Reyna and Carlos are in so much pain they tear off the towels. The next day, Evila chops off their hair. When Papi’s sister Tía Emperatriz sees the children, she’s shocked and says Reyna looks like a boy. Reyna is so upset she takes out her framed photograph of Papi, which she calls the Man Behind the Glass, and asks when he’s coming home.

Six months later, Mami still hasn’t returned. Reyna and her siblings sneak out when Evila isn’t paying attention and play in an abandoned car, pretending they’re driving to the States. Meanwhile, Reyna tells herself her parents are on the other side of the nearby Mountain That Has a Headache. She and her siblings also search for their scents in the smells of the city. However, Papi isn’t as easy to find as Mami, because she doesn’t remember him. She looks forward to her parents’ calls every week, but there’s never enough time to tell them what she wants to.

One day, Mami informs them she’s having a baby. Mago insists their parents are replacing them with their new child. The next day, Mago comforts Reyna by telling her a story. She says Reyna’s belly button used to connect her to Mami. Even though the cord is now cut, Reyna is still connected to Mami by her belly button.

Later on, Mago gets upset when some boys call her and her siblings names. She gets them back by feeding them tortillas filled with feces. The siblings run into a nearby tree and hide afterwards so Evila won’t punish them. When Emperatriz returns home, the children come down and Evila beats them.

Evila buys Reyna and Mago a cake for their birthdays. Their aunt takes pictures to send to their parents. The children try to look happy, hoping their parents will return. They send the pictures, but their parents don’t come back.

Not long later, Élida’s mother, Tía María Félix, returns to celebrate Élida’s 15th birthday and Quinceañera. She brings gifts for all of the children except Reyna and her siblings. Mago accuses her of lying when she says she lost the suitcase with the gifts from Mami and Papi. The siblings run into their tree afterwards.

Everyone “fusse[s] over Élida” (37) on the day of her party. During the father-daughter dance, Reyna imagines her own Quinceañera and hopes Papi will be there to dance with her.

After Tía María Félix leaves, Élida cries. Reyna realizes that Élida is alone and that she’s lucky to have her siblings. Afterwards, the siblings imagine life in the States and dream up the house Papi will build for them.

Reyna starts school in the first grade. She’s excited to go because she hates Evila’s house. However, she doesn’t like her teacher and feels upset when he scolds her for writing with her left hand. He and Evila have told her the left hand is cursed by the devil while the right hand is blessed by God. Mago insists this is nonsense.

One day during lunch, Reyna, Mago, and Carlos meet up in the yard. Evila doesn’t give them lunch money and they’re hungry. When someone drops their mango in the dirt, Reyna collects it per Mago’s instructions. She’s afraid God will punish her, but nothing happens when she picks it up. Afterwards, she tells herself Mago is right and the stories about the devil aren’t true. Back inside the schoolhouse, she continues writing with her left hand.

Reyna and her siblings often wait at the gate for the mail, hoping their parents will send them something. Usually Élida is the only one who receives mail, but one day Mami and Papi send the siblings a box with new clothes and shoes. However, the shoes are too small. Reyna feels sad, realizing their parents don’t even know their shoe sizes.

The siblings don the shoes anyway and run through the neighborhood to show them off. No one makes fun of them, but when they get home they have blisters.

The construction finally begins on the new house. It’s been four years since Papi left and two years since Mami left. Papi inherited a piece of Evila’s property and he starts building his dream house there. Reyna and her siblings don’t want to live so close to Evila but they’re thrilled about the house. They do their best to help, hoping their parents will return sooner if the house is built faster. However, Papi runs out of money and the construction stops shortly thereafter. Reyna talks to Papi’s photo again, asking when he’ll be back.

One night, Reyna gets bitten by a scorpion while sleeping. She’s in terrible pain, but Evila refuses to take her to the hospital because they can’t afford the bills. Mami and Papi send her money for the children but she spends it on herself instead of using it for them. Emperatriz promises to take Reyna to the doctor if she’s still sick in the morning.

In the morning, she drives her to the hospital for a shot. On the way, Reyna asks Emperatriz when her parents are returning. She thinks her home is beautiful and doesn’t understand why her parents need to be in the States. That night, Reyna sleeps with Emperatriz and thinks about her mother. She wishes she had a photo of her because she’s afraid she’s forgetting what she looks like.

On the last day of school, Emperatriz promises to take Reyna and her siblings to the movies. Reyna is thrilled, but her mood changes when she gets home and sees a strange lady and a baby outside Evila’s house. She’s shocked to discover the woman is Mami and the baby is her new sister, Betty. Mami says she’s back for good and that they’re leaving Evila’s for Abuela Chinta’s.

The siblings have countless questions for Mami. However, she sends Mago and Carlos out to play when they arrive at Chinta’s shack. Mago refuses to care for Betty, insisting she’s Mami’s daughter and not her sister. Mami drops Betty in Reyna’s lap and starts helping Chinta with dinner. Reyna wants to like Betty but sees her as a stranger.

Meanwhile, she eavesdrops on Mami and Chinta’s conversation. Mami rants about Papi, who she says left her for another woman. Shocked, Reyna interrupts. Furious that Reyna is snooping, Mami throws her outside. Reyna races out to Mago and Carlos and bursts into tears. They try comforting her, but Reyna is afraid to tell them what they heard. She sees Mami in the doorway and tells herself she’s not the same mother who left them.

Mami starts selling snacks at La Quinta Castrejón, an establishment where wealthy people host parties. She takes the children with her, hoping to win customers’ sympathy. However, she has to leave Betty at home because she gets sick easily.

One day, she tells the children that Papi helped build La Quinta’s pool and that they swam there together once. She brushes the memory aside when it starts pouring.