This Side Of Home is an amazing book based out of Portland. The narrator is Maya Young, who is the twin sister of Nikki Young. The readers soon find out that Essence, Maya and Nikki’s best friend, is moving because of gentrification. They all three go to Richmond High School in North Portland, which is often criticized by the media. Maya, the student body president, has to deal with the negative media and racism that she faces. Maya also dates a white boy, Tony, who moved into Essence’s old house. They fall in love even though they have had totally different upbringing and perspectives. I really recommend this book to anybody, it was an extremely easy quick read. It was really interesting to learn about different perspectives through all the characters!

Review copy: ARC via Netgalley

This Side of Home is a solid debut by Renée Watson. While it shares many of the same tropes as other coming-of-age stories, the execution is what sets this book apart. Watson does a commendable job of painting a community in transition as gentrification drives old residents out and changes narrator Maya’s world in both obvious and subtle ways. Watching Maya and her neighborhood as they handled—or didn’t handle—the tumult made for a compelling story.

There were many small scenes that sold me on the book, from the observation that a landlord didn’t bother making any improvements/doing any maintenance his (black) tenants had been asking for until he could raise the rent and have wealthier (white) tenants to a conversation between Maya and one of the older residents at a home-turned-coffee shop about the neighborhood’s history or a difficult but good breakup with a boyfriend. This Side of Home is filled with many gems like this, especially when it comes to moments where Maya widens her perspective.

Maya was a fascinating character, and I was particularly moved by watching her reconcile her dreams with reality—and grow up in the process. Her disagreements and fights with her friend, Essence, and her sister, Nikki, provided some great conflict, especially since each side in the arguments tended to be right about different points. I was less enthused about Maya’s constant conflict with Principal Green and some of her fellow students, but the obstacles the principal threw in her way sparked some of my favorite scenes, like the boycott of the Tastes of the World event or the poster war.

One of the most interesting—and complicated—storylines was Maya’s relationship with Tony. Romance can be a tricky thing for me, sometimes, but Watson struck a good balance between creating a friendship between them and then making sure neither Maya nor Tony could fully dodge the hard issues in their relationship. (Their conversation about whether or not Maya should apply to other colleges in addition to Spelman was one of my favorites.) Through their relationship, Watson was able to explore topics like racism and privilege without bring the narrative to an abrupt halt.

Recommendation: Buy it now if you’re a fan of contemporary books. This Side of Home is a thoroughly enjoyable coming-of-age story that also manages to tackle important social issues without forgetting to keep its focus on the characters. Maya’s growth comes through questioning the world and the people around her, and while it was often painful, it was also rewarding. I’m looking forward to future books from Renée Watson.

I loved this book. I read this book for English class and it was amazing. The writing is beautifully crafted and the story tugs on all your heart strings. I loved reading about characters who live in Portland as I am from Portland. A book filled with great characters.

Maya and Nikki are twin sisters, living in an eclectic part of Portland. When their best friend moves out of the house across the street, a white family moves in, and the girls become friends with the son and daughter. As seniors in high school, the girls seem to know who they are, but things around them are changing, which causes them to re-think plans they've been making since they were kids. A new principal at their school wants to highlight the diversity of their school, but Maya (the student body president) is not sure he's going about it the right way.

I enjoyed this story and the closer look it takes at race issues for our teens. They have opinions that may differ from adult opinions and they need to be heard. Maya and Nikki may have different senior years than each other, but they both come out learning something about themselves and their community in the end. Side note: I love the teacher, Mrs. Armstrong, and the gentle nudging she gives to her journalism students.

I LOVED this book. First of all, I’m a sucker for a twin story, being one myself I love reading about twin sisters (especially if they don’t hate each other) and this book did not disappoint. [b:This Side of Home|22392935|This Side of Home|Renée Watson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1422732313s/22392935.jpg|41813444] is a gorgeous and thought provoking book about gentrification, community, and identity. It’s filled with warmth and love and heart and frustration and indecision and stubbornness. I just loved it so much!!

Pros:
-Maya & Nikki. Like I said, I’m a sucker for twin stories, especially twin sisters who don’t hate each other/aren’t polar opposites. Though Maya and Nikki are different people, they react to the changes in the community differently, they dress differently, enjoy doing different things for fun, they still love each other and hang out. Reading books with twins who hate each other or who never talk always makes me sad and so I’m glad we got to see them be their own people and see them as sisters with a special bond. I also love that they were named after some fabulous Black poets.
-Real-World Issues. This book was so real and honest. It talked about gentrification and how it disproportionately impacts the lives of the minorities: forcing them to move, higher costs of living, lack of approval for Black/Minority owned businesses. It talked about community and what it means, especially when your surroundings start to change. It talked about Black History Month and the erasure of the contributions and advancements made possible by Black people. We see class struggles in the kids worrying about college and scholarships. We see how the public education system, influenced by the community and population, provides for or fails it’s students. We see Maya and Nikki show different ways of showing and embracing their blackness. They talk about their hair, the politics of interracial dating, how they always are a representative of a larger group and feel pride or shame for how other black people act, and how they can be judged for “acting white” when other people’s expectations of you are not met. SO MUCH GREAT STUFF and I LOVED every minute of it.

Cons:Other Thoughts:
-Time. There were a bunch of little time jumps (few weeks at a time) in the story. I didn’t mind them at all and they actually helped move the story along in a really natural way, but you wouldn’t find out there was a jump until the middle of a paragraph or a random part of a chapter. You couldn’t really anticipate if there had been a jump or not. I wish we got a little more post-graduation. While the ending was beautiful and brought everything full circle, while also showing growth and acceptance, I selfishly want more.
-Principle Green. I did not like Principle Green at all. He was awful and dismissive. And I have some unanswered questions about him too:

Spoiler

Did he ever find/punish who was defacing the posters or who said the racial slur? Did her really give Cynthia the scholarship interview questions, or did Maya just think he did? Why did he appoint new students to the student council and then give those he appointed preferential treatment?

. He’s that kind of person who doesn’t ever see that what they’re doing is wrong and belittles those who disagrees with them. Did not like him.

[b:This Side of Home|22392935|This Side of Home|Renée Watson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1422732313s/22392935.jpg|41813444] is a beautifully poetic story of family, community, and self discovery. We follow twin sisters, Maya and Nikki Jacobs, as their community begins to change and they try and reorient themselves in their new little world. This Side of Home shows how you can discover yourself as you grow.

The diversity in this book was eye opening for me and my life experiences. This is the kind of book that makes me go “YES THIS IS WHY WE NEED DIVERSE READS”! This book taught be so much about a different culture, and really you know what, that culture isn’t so different from mine.

This story is about two African- American teens, Nikki and Maya, who are seniors and traversing life in Portland. It explores the expectations laid on them as teens, as well as for being female and African-American. The typical questions most teens face “Where do I fit in?” “What am I doing with my life after graduation?” are all dealt with in this novel. However, they are explored from a perspective I’ve never known because I will never be African-American. The culture and traditions surrounding Nikki and Maya is wholly unique and I’ve never been around anything like it in my own life. This book truly brought me an experience and knowledge I needed. It broadened my knowledge and understanding of another culture.

This story isn’t just some tale that preaches about being African-American and the culture. It is a young adult novel that shares the coming of age story of two girls looking for their place in the world, in a world that is rapidly changing. There is friendship, family discord, romance, sister drama and the idea of learning to accept yourself and others for who they are.

I am so glad I got this ARC because it truly introduced me to another perspective and was teeming with diversity, while telling a YA story. The only thing I didn’t like about this book was that I often like the perspective and writing was more juvenile than a 17 year old girl’s voice would have been. However, at the same time I wondered if I felt that way because I am no longer a teen and just feel further removed from that voice?? It is one of those things that didn’t take too much away from the story for me and I still really was impressed with this story and definitely recommend it.

Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The above is still my honest opinion.

Anna @ Lostbraincell's Bookish Blog www.lostbraincell.com

I read her later novel Watch us Rise and it is a powerful novel about teenagers finding their voice and not letting administration silence them. You can see how this author has grown from this earlier novel to her current writings.

In this book we have twins Maya and Nikki along with their best friend Essence who are finishing high school and deciding on a future. In their neighborhood, it is going through a transformation. It has always been a black community but now the white people are moving in buying houses and opening trendy shops. Nikki embraces the change, makes friends with the new comers, while Maya wants nothing to change. Essence is forced to move and begins to realize the childhood dreams will not make her grown up world.

This story has promise, just not completely developed.

I LOVED this. Loved it. I'm so grateful to Renee Watson for writing it.

A few years back, friends recommended I read _The Fortress of Solitude_ by Jonathan Lethem, because they said it was a great book about gentrification.

I wanted to love it, but it didn't grab me. And I couldn't figure out why until I read _This Side of Home_.

While _The Fortress of Solitude_ focused on young people, it wasn't written for them.

This was. And better, its protagonist was a young, black woman. (_Fortress_ was told from an entirely male perspective.) Furthermore, _Fortress_ was written in the 3rd person, and this book was written in 1st person. This made a huge difference to me-- got me closer to the characters. And even though the book was told from Maya's perspective, she's close enough with her sister Nikki (whose reaction to and opinion of what's happening in her neighborhood is different from Maya's) that Nikki's side of things is just as compelling.

This book is smart, accessible, and doesn't underestimate the intelligence of young people. And it beautifully articulates why an all-inclusive take on "diversity" is problematic. SPOILER ALERT: The principal of Richmond High was RIDICULOUS. No "Black History Month" celebration because it might piss off the white kids? And yet, authority figures like this are, unfortunately, everywhere. If they weren't, books like this wouldn't need to be written.

And yet I'm so glad that this was.

3.5 stars

I just wish that it wasn't so simplistically written. Each of the characters are awesome, the topic is super relevant, but I'd have a hard time teaching this/using this for high school. Middle school? Hell yes. Struggling readers, yes. The content is quality and important for conversations, but the level of challenge isn't there like I'd like it to be.