Baltimore City Students Engage with Literature

Author Reyna Grande comes to UMBC for a One Maryland One Book Event

On Tuesday, September 30, UMBC and the Dresher Center for the Humanities hosted 250 middle and high school students from Baltimore City Public Schools for an open conversation and book-signing with author Reyna Grande. Dean Scott Casper welcomed the students, along with Phoebe Stein, Executive Director of the Maryland Humanities Council. The event was followed by a campus tour.

The event was part of the One Maryland One Book program, coordinated by the Maryland Humanities Council. This year's book selection, Grande’s memoir, The Distance Between Us, was guided by the theme of “the American Dream.” In her book, Grande poignantly shares her life before and after entering the United States as an undocumented immigrant. The students, who read the work in English and Spanish, asked Grande about her relationship with her family after arriving in the United States and her experiences as a child growing up in an unfamiliar culture. The author described the dangerous journey from her home in Mexico to reunite with her long-absent father in the U.S. She told of her difficulties in obtaining an education and how she eventually became a writer.

One Maryland One Book Program Officer Andrea Lewis explains: “This event is held on a college campus each year to give the students the opportunity to meet the author of a book they’ve read and to learn about and experience stepping onto a campus. It’s an experience that exposes them to new things and offers a glimpse into what’s possible. The Maryland Humanities Council appreciates the partnership with UMBC and the Dresher Center that made this event possible.”

For information on the One Maryland One Book Program: http://www.mdhc.org/programs/one-maryland-one-book/