What is the author's tone in the memoir, The Distance Between Us?

Even though she is a child for the majority of the book, she is writing for an adult reader and writes the story with her adult perspective and knowledge of what was to come. It is gritty, honest, difficult to read at times, emotional, and thought-provoking. She is very self-aware and writes with an understanding of why she becomes the way she is. For example, she writes of her father: “I wanted him to see me. I had always wanted to be seen by him” (163). Likewise, she writes that she understands now that her need for attention from her father led her into unhealthy relationships with boys as an adolescent.

The personal tone of the memoir is further developed by the use of multilingual language, which emphasizes the bilingual and cross-cultural experience of its subject and the immigrant experience at large. Spanish language is used, sometimes with no translation. For example, one of Mami’s clients asks her: “¿Juana, ya te vas?” and no translation is offered (7). Spanish terms of endearment are also used. Her mother calls Reyna “mija,” and her sister calls her “nena” (10, 13). Other times, the translation is given afterwards, in italics. For example, as a child, Reyna writes: “Mi mamá me mima. Mi mamá me ama.” My mama spoils me. My mama loves me” (67).

At times, the author’s tone is very poetic, and her language is descriptive. For example, when describing Abuela Chinta’s house, she writes: “It was shaped like a box, and it had once been painted white, but by the time we came to live there the adobe peeked through where the plaster had cracked like the shell of a hard-boiled egg” (8). The reader can picture the house chipped like the shell of an egg and can see the color of the adobe coming through the cracked white plaster.