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.