The Distance Between Us Summary Chapter 8-16 PDF

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The Distance Between Us summary of chapters 8-16....

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The Distance Between Us Summary Chapters 8 – 16 

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Chapter 8 o Reyna notices that Mago is changing. She refuses to play Barbie’s. She finally gives in, but she makes them do what Reyna has seen animals in Mexico do. o Mago has been writing letters and sending pictures to Mami, but she has never heard back. They finally understand why she is afraid of Papi. o They do however get some letters from Tia Emperatriz who lets them know what’s going on back in Mexico. o Mago plays a game with Reyna called Mami y Papi. This is a game Mago made up so she could touch Reyna inappropriately. Reyna tells her it’s gross and to stop. o Mago explains that she is almost 15 and has never kissed a boy and that there is a boy she likes. o The girls pray in church about Mago’s boy problems. o As school, the boy tries to talk to Mago, but she can’t speak English, so he walks away. o He later makes fun of her and her siblings calling them “wetback”. o Carlos has a crush on a girl named Maria. He stares at her on the bus and she ask him why he keeps looking at her. o Mago tells her she’s lucky he’s looking at her because she’s ugly. o Maria shows up at their house to talk to Mago about her comment and Mago beats her up in the parking lot. Chapter 9 o There is a book competition at school. Reyna enters her own book hoping to make Papi proud. o Her book is about her connection to Mami and Mexico. o Reyna watches ET at school and can relate to him wanting to go back home. o Her book is not chosen in the competition and she is very disappointed. Chapter 10 o Papi gets hurt so he has a few days off work. He goes into town and runs into Mami. o He tells the children that she has been in the US for months. She left Betty in Mexico and now lives with a new boyfriend and baby boy in the US. o The children want to see her, but Papi won’t let them. He says she doesn’t care about them because she has been in the US for months and hasn’t tried to find them. o Papi wants to get Betty back who is still living in Mexico. o Mago writes to Abuela Chinta to ask about Betty but receives a letter from Tia Guera saying that Betty will come to live with her in the US soon. o The children finally go to visit Mami once Betty arrives. She lives in poverty with Betty, Rey, her new baby boy Leonardo, and Tia Guera.

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o They start visiting her on Sunday’s. Chapter 11 o Papi and Mila married a few months ago and are now filing for green cards. o Mago starts high school. o Reyna joins band and plays the saxophone. o She plays for papi which makes Mago jealous. Chapter 12 o Papi is very controlling and won’t let them go out because he wants to know where they are and who they are with. o A gang called the Avenues live next door. One of them steals water, but Papi lets them. There was a drive by and one of the gang members gets hit. o Papi goes to school to improve his English. o Tia Emperatriz steals Papi’s dream house. o Abuela is sick so Tia talked her into signing the property over to her. o Papi never returns to school after finding this out. Chapter 13 o Reyna became a senorita and completes her ESL program. o There is another book competition at school and Reyna enters again to make her father proud. o Reyna wins and thinks she gets tickets to visit The Queen Mary. o Reyna tells Papi, but he refuses to let her go and doesn’t read her book. Chapter 14 o Reyna’s friend Phuong likes a boy named Luis. She sends Reyna over to tell him she likes him. o However, she ends up liking him. o Papi sends Reyna to the liquor store to get lighter fluid and she runs into Luis. o They end up kissing. o Papi gets angry that she took so long. o She tries to walk away, but he goes after her, and beats her in front of Luis. o Luis never talks to her again. Chapter 15 o Mago graduates from high school. o Mago enrolls in college and gets a part time job. She helps with bills and buys Reyna marching shoes for band. o The family move into a 3-bedroom apartment. o One night, Carlos doesn’t come home from the park and Papi gets mad. o Two men eventually show up carrying Carlos who has broken his leg. Papi refuses to take him to the hospital. o The next day, Papi still refuses to take to take him to the hospital. o Mago gets some of her coworkers to take Carlos to the hospital.

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o Papi ends up coming home and telling them her will take Carlos to the hospital because he is his son. o They go to Raging Water, but Carlos can’t ride the rides because of his broken leg and Reyna doesn’t want to go on the rides by herself. Chapter 16 o Reyna notices that Mago is different around Papi after the Carlos broken leg incident. o Mago throws Reyna a quinceanera with her own money. o Reyna hasn’t had her first communion, but Mago makes her lie so she can throw the quinceanera, but Reyna feels terrible about lying. o She waltzes with Papi at the quinceanera, but she wants to dance it with Mago. Connections o Dialogic Civility: An ethic of caring is a story situated to counter evil. Mago and Reyna take on the role of teacher and student to counter the abuse in their lives. For example, Mago throws Reyna a quinceanera showing her that she cares deeply for her. o Communication and the Human Condition: Papi uses resources to keep the children away from Mami. He shares stories with them about their mother, so they will believe that she does not care about them. For example, when she comes back to the US with Rey, Papi tells them that because she didn’t try to connect them, she does not really care about them....