This Side of Home

by Renée Watson

[Angie]

4.5★

This Side of Home was really great! Maya and her twin Nikki have many of the same feelings that I have, and the same confusions that I have, although they're prompted by slightly different reasons. The twins live in a neighborhood that has been primarily African American until recently. Their neighbors are moving after landlords fix up the houses and raise the rent. New businesses are popping up, and their school principal is set on showcasing the new diversity. Maya is not happy about all of these changes going on and she's determined to show the good parts of her neighborhood and school which were already there.

I was immediately drawn in by Maya's voice in This Side of Home. She felt so real and relatable to me. She's struggling with the changes she's seeing all around her, which are being shown as progress and improvement. Clean streets and newly painted buildings are good, but it's coming at the cost of removing the population that was there before. Basically, the neighborhood is becoming more white and forcing the original black population out which is unfair and Maya sees this. Why can't they have these things while keeping the people the same? It's clearly not right. At times Maya's reactions are naive and single-minded, but her story is very much about her placing her identity in this changing world.

Tradition versus change is a very big message in This Side of Home. We really get to see this as Maya works as student body president, wanting to do something meaningful beyond just dances. She bumps heads with the new principal who essentially shuts down all of her ideas in the name of diversity. Diversity is amazing, but not when you erase people to showcase it. He frustrated me soooo much! His heart seemed to be in the right place, but he's going about everything so wrong. Maya sticks with it though, and while she does do some things that get her trouble, she learns from all this. She finds a way to compromise on her ideas without compromising her values.

I do wish that This Side of Home did touch more on Maya and Nikki forming their own identities apart from each other. We do see some of this, but not as much as I was expecting. I especially wanted more from Nikki because almost every time she was on the page, I was like "this is me!" They're identical twins, but Maya is referred to as the black one and Nikki is the white one because of how they dress and do their hair. They have the same skin, but Nikki isn't "black enough" for their community and she's much more accepting of all of the changes they're facing. This is me! I am half-white, but I got the "you're acting white" thing just like Nikki does. We both like being in mixed company. We're not acting anything, just expressing ourselves in a different way!

There's also a really cute romance in This Side of Home. Maya's best friend's family is one of the ones forced to move, and in their place comes Tony's family. They get to know each other because of student council, and things just go from there. Maya is hesitant at first, because of the tension in their neighborhood, she doesn't want to drawn attention to them. But Tony and Maya actually talk these things out! They have the important discussions! And I swear I nearly swooned when Tony was rubbing oil into Maya's hair for her!

This Side of Home was just really great. It explores a topic that I hadn't read about before, and it gives such an authentic portrayal of being a black girl today, trying to find her way. I really admired Maya for being so rooted in her culture and fighting for it, but also learning that there's a way for her to exist with everyone else. We don't need to push others out to keep the things that are important. We all exist together and should learn from one another instead of being an us and them.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.