The Other Half of My Heart

by Sundee T. Frazier

The story of biracial twin sisters—one black, one white—and the summer that tests their strong bond, from the author of Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award-winner Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It.
 
When Minerva and Keira King were born, they made Keira is black like Mama, but Minni is white like Daddy. Together the family might look like part of a chessboard row, but they are first and foremost the close-knit Kings. Then Grandmother Johnson calls, to invite the twins down South to compete for the title of Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America.
     Minni dreads the spotlight, but Keira assures her that together they'll get through their stay with Grandmother Johnson. But when their grandmother's bias against Keira reveals itself, Keira pulls away from her twin. Minni has always believed that no matter how different she and Keira are, they share a deep bond of the heart. Now she'll find out whether that’s really true.

"One luminous pearl of a sister story."--RITA WILLIAMS-GARCIA, author of the Newbery Honor Award-winner  One Crazy Summer

Winner of the Skipping Stone Honor Award
 
* "Frazier highlights the contradictions, absurdities, humor, and pain that accompany life as a mixed-race tween. Never didactic, this is the richest portrait of multiracial identity and family since Virginia Hamilton's 1976 novel Arilla Sun Down . An outstanding achievement."— Kirkus Reviews , Starred
 
* "Not only does Frazier raise questions worth pondering, but her ability to round out each character, looking past easy explanations for attitude, is impressive. . . . A novel with a great deal of heart indeed."— Booklist , Starred

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Family, Cultural

304 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2010

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minni and Keira are twins that love spending time together and appreciate each other's uniqueness. Minni is shy, smart, and loves to volunteer, while Keira is outgoing, has dyslexia, loves gymnastics and fashion. However, there is one more unique trait that is different about them. Minni is white with straight, red hair and Keira is black with curly hair. Yes, they are actual biological twin sisters born to their black mother and white father. The girls have just turned 11 and their Grandmother Johnson has convinced the girls to be part of the Miss Black Pearl Preteen National Achievement Program. Minni doesn't want to participate, partly because she doesn't think she will be accepted with her white skin, while Keira is positively elated about the pageant. During the pageant the twins are forced to deal with the fact that their different skin colors elicit different reactions from people and they need to decide if that changes the way they feel about each other.

Appropriate for grades 4-7, The Other Half of My Heart explores the difficulties that multiracial individuals face. It explores themes of individuality, identity, family, racism, and equality. The story being told from Minni's perspective was interesting, but as a reader I also wanted to know Keira's perspective which we didn't get until late in the book. It was nice to see that Minni gained the strength she needed to confront the identity crisis she was facing, but the book ended in a nice and neat package, which isn't really the case in real life, especially in regards to racism and self-acceptance. However, still a valuable resource to use with students in order to explore multiracial concepts.

[Susie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very conflicted about this book. I know there are not very many books for young readers that give such a sensitive perspective on race, and while I feel this could lead to some great, thoughtful discussions, there are also parts that cheapen the narrative. The fact that the twins are constantly looking for ways to demean and embarrass their grandmother really bothered me. Why couldn't Minni have great conversations with her grandmother in addition to Dr. Oliphant? I also had a hard time believing that Minni and Kiera would not have been confronted with the prejudice in the dress shop before, and that the parents would not have done more to work with Kiera and her reading deficiencies before age 11.

I also respect the author's viewpoint and her reasons for writing the book, reasons that I might not fully appreciate. I really enjoyed the trip to the museum and the deft way she worked in some history without being didactic.

I do wish the editing had been tighter as well. Instead of numerous sentences telling us Minni went to the printer, put paper in, printed out an application, and then printed out another application, just tell us she printed applications! The episode with the dog poop was way too prolonged. And, somebody teach editors that it's NOT cement, it's concrete.

I listened to this book on audio, and I felt the narrator did an excellent job. I could usually tell which character was speaking, and I especially liked her interpretation of Dr. Oliphant. I have purchased this for our library.

[hailey kington · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're into a kind of rollercoaster of emotions then I recommend this book..

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wasn't sure what I was going to think about this book when I first started reading it. Twins Keira and Minerva (Minni) were going to leave Washington State to visit their Grandmother Johnson in North Carolina to participate in the Miss Black Pearl Pageant, which was a longtime family tradition. Minni was very sellf-conscious about entering a contest for black girls, however, because she had red hair and very fair skin. The girls' father was white and their mother was black. Grandmother Johnson's rigidity and exacting standards give the girls some uncomfortable times, but they also give a bit of resistance as well! As Keira and Minni meet neighbors, visit museums, and learn that their grandmother had actually met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., just days before he was assassinated, they grow and mature regarding many aspects of life. The book includes Keira's struggle with her dyslexia, Minna's struggles with trying to fit in with a world that doesn't accept her, but it isn't without humor. The girls are a bit unrelenting about their grandmother's snoring as well as her struggles with her gas problems, but it does come back to haunt them! Issues with skin color give a lot of "food for thought" for children in the middle grades, and the book can be a center for a lot of great discussion.

[Christine Clayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Text to self- My best friend while growing up is bi-racial. Her mother was white and her father was black. We lived in a small community that was not very diverse, much like the community Keira and Minni live in. I didn’t pay any attention to our differences growing up; we were much more alike than different in my eyes. But as I have gotten older, I have often wondered if she noticed the differences. I think this book would be a great story for opening up dialog for all children regarding stereotypes and how people are treated differently because of their looks.

Bloom’s Questions
1. In what two towns did the story take place?
2. Explain why the clerk in the dress shop treated Keira and Minni differently?
3. Predict how Grandmother Johnson might have behaved if Keira had not won the pageant?
4. What was the turning point in Minni’s attitude towards her skin color?
5. Justify Grandmother Johnson’s actions towards Keira using the story she told about her childhood.
6. What do you predict will happen with Minni and Keira’s relationship with their Grandmother Johnson?

Review:
(2010, August 1). Booklist. http://www.booksinprint.com.leo.lib.u...#

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the kind of story about family and identity that I would recommend in a heartbeat to kids looking for that kind of story - one that takes childhood and sense of self seriously, adds in some humor and a reasonably compelling plot, and delivers a satisfying ending.

The story takes an interesting look at race by telling the story of twin girls, one who looks like their white father and the other who looks like their black mother. Whether or not these particular issues of race are ones that the reader can identify with, it's the kind of story that sucks in preteen girls who are just starting to think about their place in the world and other people's perception of them.

The sisters' relationship felt natural, with its ups and downs, as did their relationship with their parents. The pacing is good, keeping the story moving with more thoughtful moments mixed in well. And the ending is sweet without being unrealistic.

[sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fraternal twin girls are born parents of different races, and their appearances are vastly different: Minni has fair skin and red hairlike their dad, and Keira has darker skin and curly hair like their mother.

Although I was really interested in the plot, I felt like the writing was a bit didactic and unrealistic. I just couldn't reconcile the fact that the parents of the girls, who are very involved in their children's lives and have dealt with pretty painful race dynamics in their own marriage, did not think to discuss the reality that their fair-skinned, red-haired daughter Minni may, just possibly, come up against obstacles in her participation in the Miss Black Pearl pageant. For all the teachy moments in the book, the characters come across as shallow, and the overly sentimental bits are a bit much.

Still, I have recommended the book for its interesting topic. Just not the best writing style, in my opinion.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the adoptive mother of a bi-racial daughter who is being raised in a predominantly white community, I'm always interested in books like THE OTHER HALF OF MY HEART. It asks some important and intriguing questions about identity, Blackness, racism, judging each other, etc. and teaches valuable lessons about standing up for each other and ourselves, and loving each other (and ourselves) in spite of (and because of) our differences. Lots of thought-provoking discussions could come out of the issues raised in this book.

The characters in the book are colorful and lively, the writing is engaging, and the plot is compelling if a little here, there, and everywhere. Overall, I enjoyed the book and will look for more by Frazier.

I especially liked the narrator on this audiobook, Audie Award-winning Bahni Turpin. She's lively, fun, and made this book even more enjoyable with all our voices/accents.

[Kirby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sundee Frazier is the most thoughtful, kind, and honest person I know. And her newest book is an exploration of the two sides of her own self -- the outgoing and the shy. I think any writer can relate to that! And I think kids will relate to a sibling relationship that's tight and complicated and fraying a bit as the twins bump into the preteen years.

I felt I got inside Minnie, the lighter of bi-racial twins, and really felt her outsider/where do I belong pain. But I missed getting to know and understand her twin sister and, because of that, the story didn't feel as rich to me as it might.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

When do you talk with your children openly about race? Do you talk about noticing the color of someone's skin? I was fascinated last spring listening to Po Bronson, author of NurtureShock, talk to a group of parents about scientific research and implications for raising children. One of the topics he covered was how parents are doing a grave disservice to their children by trying to be "color neutral" and avoid discussions of race. As he writes in a column in Newsweek, "Ignoring the color of skin, yet dutifully pointing out the color of every inanimate object and animal, only sends a message to children that talking skin color is taboo." Children notice colors all around them, and they certainly notice the color of skin. We must help them understand why different people have different color skin; talk about it in a calm way, encouraging their mindfulness without preaching to them.

This got me to thinking - how is race portrayed in the children's books we read? Do any of the books I love help children talk about race, understand race and the impact skin color may have? A book I recently read, The Other Half of My Heart by Sundee Frazier, and really enjoyed does this wonderfully. It provides food for thought, talks openly about race and raises questions - in a funny and heartfelt way.

Minni and Keira are 11 year-old twins, but they are fraternal twins who look nothing alike. Minni looks like her father with light skin and red hair, and Keira looks more like her African American mother, with dark skin and kinky dark hair. Minni and Keira are best friends and each other’s strongest supporter, but the differences they experience as biracial siblings test their relationship the summer they visit their grandmother in North Carolina.

Grandmother Johnson flies Minni and Keira out to participate in the Miss Black Pearl Preteen pageant. Keira is thrilled to be able to shine in the spotlight, but Minni is shy like her mother and dreads the attention. Even more so, Minni dreads the inevitable – people asking why she is competing in a pageant for African Americans when she looks white. Is she really black? Is who you are determined by what’s inside or how people see you? Has she ever really stood up for Keira when people judge her by the color of her skin? Has she been treated differently than Keira at home and not realized it?

Sundee Frazier won the 2008 John Steptoe New Talent Award (presented by the American Library Association to an African American writer who has published three or fewer books) for Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It (2007). I haven't read this, but it looks like a fun novel that also raises questions about race in a way that kids can relate to.

In The Other Half of My Heart, Frazier raises questions about race, identity and inner strength, in a way that helps children think about these issues without giving them the answers. She bases much of this on her own experiences as a mixed race person, growing up as the daughter of an African American father and a white mother.

I found the character of Minni to be more fully developed, since the narrator shares her thoughts and feelings. We really can get inside the turmoil that Minni is going through. So at times the novel seems a bit unbalanced, and I found myself wanting to know more about Keira's inner thoughts and emotions. However, I wonder if this would have been difficult to share both sister's perspectives. In any case, tweens will definitely enjoy the humor and insights that Frazier brings to this story.

[Alesha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Similar to Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It and The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond, The Other Half of My Heart is the story of an adolescent struggling with her identity. Minni King is fairer-skinned twin sister of Keira King and is deeply concerned with how she is perceived by others, and fears that she isn't "black enough."

Unlike Brendan Buckley, Minni seems fixate on her biracial heritage and readers are reminded of her fixation on every. single. page. Like Violet Diamond, she experiences becomes more comfortable with herself after spending two weeks with her African American grandmother during the summer.

[A.R. Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eight little genes.

Out of the millions that tell people who they're going to be, only seven or eight tell them what color their skin will be. Eight little genes. That's it. But those eight little genes have traditionally stood in the way of acceptance from others, and now they're standing in the way of two best friends, one white, one black.

Who happen to be twins.

Minni, short for Minerva, and Keira King have always been closer than close, best friends forever. They are definitely not identical-- Minni takes after their father and Keira, their mother. But their mother is black and their father white. Minni hates her 'Bozo the Clown' look, with her red hair and big feet. The freckles covering her arms and face stand out against her white skin, and sometimes she just wishes she was as black as Keira, with her beautiful dark skin and kinky hair. Okay, scratch that: all the time she wishes she was as black as Keira. But not everyone thinks that way.

On the twins' eleventh birthday, they get an 'urgent' call from Grandmother Johnson, their cranky maternal grandmother. Apparently the pageant that she has been waiting to enter them in when they turned twelve is losing money and there may not be one next year. Keira, obviously, is all for Grandmother Johnson's plan: the twins will enter the pageant this year instead of the next. Minni, on the other hand, wants to go hide under her bed. Against her will, it's decided that they will stay with Grandmother Johnson for ten days, compete in the pageant, and come home. Coming home is Minni's favorite part of the plan.

When they reach Grandmother Johnson's home, it is as awful as the twins remembered from their last visit. Disinfectant-spray smell? Check. Icky sour buttermilk? Got it. Cranky grandma? She's here too. But Keira assures Minni that they will make it through together, as sisters. Only when Grandmother Johnson's comments about Keira begin, it's harder for the sisters to stick together. But now might be the best time to.

This book was very good. Throughout it, a had a growing feeling that reached a culmination somewhere around page 200: What does skin color even matter?

I mean, I've never been racist or anything. But while the twins were at home there were whispers of prejudice against Keira. And when they were with Grandma Johnson in the South there was prejudice against Minni. In both places the majority thought itself just a little bit better. And even the fact that the twins were competing in an all-black pageant. My thoughts were, Why does it matter at all?

The Other Half of My Heart was a great thought-provoking tale of sisters, prejudice, race, and most of all eight little genes and the willingness to not even care about them.

Sun and moon.
Pearls of different shades.
Two halves of the same heart.

Tolle et lege.

[Becky Birtha · Rating 3 out of 5]

With biracial twin nieces in my family, and also knowing another set of biracial twins who more closely resemble the girls in the book, I was very curious about Sundee Frazier’s The Other Half of My Heart. I was glad, in the end, that I stuck with it. The story is told (in third person) from the point of view of one twin, Minni, who takes after their (white) father in looks. Of the two, Minni’s more intellectual, shyer, less self confident, and tries harder to please. Her sister Keira, who, in looks, takes after their (black) mother, with darker skin and more African hair, is outgoing, a natural performer, style conscious, and struggles with severe dyslexia.

Although Minni claims to admire and look up to her sister, and is generous in her compliments toward her, even in her thoughts, her tone toward Keira bothered me. Minni’s viewpoint came across to me as patronizing and condescending; I began to worry that it might not be the character’s, but the author’s. And while I was aware of the need to get the point across to the reader of how different the twins were in appearance, there seemed to be too many references to Keira’s looks and “Keira’s lambs-wool head,” which surely would no longer be a novelty to her sister by age eleven.

The girls travel to North Carolina to stay with their maternal grandmother and participate in the preteen pageant of an organization reminiscent of the African American family organization, Jack and Jill of America. Their trip allows for Minni’s exploration of racial issues on a much deeper level, as she must examine her relationship with her sister, her feelings about her own white looks and black identity, and her heretofore acceptance of her own white privilege. It was a relief when Keira finally got angry with Minni, more than halfway through the book. It was also significant watching Minni absorb the experience of having the tables turned, of being the one out of place because of her skin color, as Keira had always been, in their home community of Port Townsend, Washington. As a character, Minni shares some issues with her literary predecessors in the novels of earlier African American writers, such as Jessie Redmon Fauset (Plum Bun), in which female characters also struggle to come to terms with their own racial identity despite light skin and features that appear white.

I was disappointed that Grandmother Johnson was never allowed to become a sympathetic figure. While some background is given to account for her repressed character and internalized racism, the girls don’t come to love her, and she remains someone for poking fun at, while the paternal grandmother, also laughable, is clearly loved. However, I was glad that Frazier included the humor that she did, with the more serious Minni often being the ringleader in thinking up pranks, providing a balance to the very serious subjects tackled here and, ultimately, handled well.

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn't crazy about this book but it did had some good features, such as it being really smooth and gentle. One thing that was really annoying about it is when Kiera argues and gets mad at Minni when Minni is also going through being accepted and Minni never does anything! The book is pretty slow and without much action. The BIG parts were really the contest and even then it wasn't as interesting as I hoped. I expected more from this book because the main idea of it and the back of the book made it sound SOOOOOO GOOD but then it took forever I just wanted to get it over with this book! It wasn't something as attracting as a good book but it wasn't something I couldn't bare with. I ALSO DID NOT LIKE HOW IN THE BEGINNING THERE WERE MEMORIES/STORIES THAT DIDN'T REALLY FIT IN WITH WHAT THE BOOK WAS TALKING ABOUT AND DIDN'T HAVE MUCH OF A POINT! It is like an everyday life type of story in a way. I really don't mind it as much as I explained because overall the ending was ok. ISH.

[Jeannette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twins of a black mom and white dad, Minerva and Keira King, 11, visit Grandmother Johnson in NC so they can compete in the Miss Black Pearl Preteen pageant. Minni, who appears white, is reluctant; outgoing Keira, who appears black, is thrilled. Back home in Washington State Minni has unknowingly benefited from white privilege, while Keira’s appearance has subjected her to bias. As their experience of race threatens to divide the sisters, Minni struggles to heal the rift. Frazier The contradictions, absurdities, humor and pain that accompany life as a mixed-race tween are highlighted. There are some pretty humorous parts in this book. My 10 & 13 year olds would catch snippets of the audiobook while it played in the car and enjoyed it.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the ideas and purpose of this book, it deserves 5 stars. Unfortunately, the writing style made it hard for me to slog through. The point was so laboriously and painstakingly made that I started to get bored while reading what I think is ultimately a very important book. I would not hesitate in giving this book to a young, earnest reader, especially one who feels different on the inside or outside from everybody else (so, basically, every girl who ever existed). I just would be worried that some readers won't be willing to push through any slow points.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

AUDIOBOOK:

Voices great on the audio. Being a twin, I loved the characters in this book who are only 11 years old and already learning how to embrace their differences and not focus on the things that make them the same about being a twin!! Great book!

[Joanne L · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was well beautifully written and I like how the author puts a lot of metaphors and similarties to "imagine" the main character (Minni/Minerva) was trying to say.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5!

Would definitely recommend as a book to give young readers! It's super fun and accessible plus there are fantastic messages about race and identity.

[Josie Pemberton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how this book is about a rare case in which two children were born. It is a very emotional story. Every page is a new adventure!

[Eliece · Rating 3 out of 5]

I requested this book by accident from the library, intending to get one of the same title by Stephanie Butland. Not paying attention enough to realize that I had made a mistake, I began reading it. I was enjoying it well enough, but after a while, I started to feel that it was meant more for YAs. That's when the light dawned about my goof. I spent 25 years as a children's librarian; the last 11 with 7th and 8th graders. This is a wonderful book for that age, but I think many adults will also like it, just as I did. Don't be put off by my 3 stars. After all, that means I liked it; but I try never to over-rate books. If Goodread reviewers give everything they read 5 stars (as an extraordinary number seem to do), then the rating system becomes meaningless, in my opinion.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

What really disappointed me was that the story was told entirely from Minni's perspective. I was expecting to hear from Minni and Keira, but instead we only receive Minni's side of the story. Sympathy can be roused for both characters and it's both painful and rewarding to see Minni finally get 'it', understand what it's like to be the ONLY ONE. However I felt that the book could have been much stronger if Keira also got to tell her part of the story, what was it like for her being in the majority? I was surprised at how quickly the pageant/program (a running joke in the story) was over. Minni spends all this time worrying about it and then it's over in about a chapter. I was hoping to read more about preparations for the pageant and to learn about the other participants, instead they were just used to exclude Minni and befriend Keira. I also thought the writing could be heavy-handed, especially concerning Martin Luther King Jr. Minni's initials are MLK, which was intentional. That's cute but Minni talks about him all the time which is great, but so do all the other characters and I wanted to learn about other civil rights heroes (or at least I wanted someone to remind Minni that their are other civil rights leaders. No disrespect to MLK, he's one of the most inspiring figures in the history of the world). I did learn something new, Martin's first name was actually Michael. His father changed it after a trip to Germany during which he learned about Martin Luther. Maybe I just have lesser patience when it comes to stories that emphasis civil rights leaders over and over again because growing up that's what my parents talked about, we watched movies, read books, etc. Not to mention MLK is probably one of the few Black Americans we study for a long period of time in most schools and so now I'm more impatient with the BIG NAMES of the civil rights movement.

I did like Minni's narration even though I also wanted to hear from Keira. I think the author did a great job fleshing Minni out. She has a rather dry sense of humor but she can really let loose, she's insecure, doesn't always stand up for what's right and she dearly loves her sister. These components make her seem very realistic. At one point when it's starting to become clear that Grandmother Payine-in-the-Butt Johnson isn't too fond of Keira, Minni decides that "Grandmother Johnson was no small woman, but if she tried to nab Keira, Minni would jump her. It was still two against one, and Grandmother Johnson was old." (pg. 96). I found it amusing that she and Keira didn't have the stereotypical 'twin thing' of finishing each other's sentences. Dyslexia is brought up and the topic is addressed with both humor and sensitivity, it's frustrating to see how teachers just gave up instead of really working to diagnose the disability and then work with Keira to overcome/cope with the disability. Grandmother Johnson is both a nuisance and entertaining, set in her ways, hardened by life, the twins come up with some creative schemes to get back at her. I was happy to see that Grandmother Johnson is not demonized throughout the book, she's human and not evil just to be evil (I wouldn't even go so far as to say she's evil).

The Other Half of My Heart is brimming with emotions and sentimentality. The story is slow, but that allows for Minni and Grandmother Johnson to truly develop as characters. I only wish the same could be said for Keira. Keira develops into a character, but always seemed to be a secondary character and I felt that she was simply 'Minni's twin' but that contradicts with this story which seems to be trying to show that each of the twins are individuals. I would have better appreciated all the sun and moon references if they were more slyly woven in (I never would have figured out what Keira meant though) but they work well with the story and enhance the telling. I loved how Keira and Minni's parents weren't abstract, absent parents. I got a real feel for their personalities and you can draw your own conclusions on who the twins most closely resemble. I would have liked more pageant details but it isn't meant to be a pageant expose, but I do think the Miss Black Pearl PreTeen preparations could have been made more interesting instead of rushed through. In a way this book airs out our dirty laundry. Even though it's the 21st century, Black people are still silly enough to try and bring each other down. There is still a very subtle message that being dark is bad, but light is alright. There's enough prejudice in this world as it is, I don't understand why we still have so much inter-cultural prejudice. A strong story about the bond between sisters (specifically twins), being color struck and growing up

3.5/5 (I round up)

[Rhonda M · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a genre meant for a much younger audience, I really enjoyed this book. I think the concepts are maybe about 5th grade level, but I plan on adding to my daughter’s library.

[Kristine Henson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book for a class in multicultural resources for youth and I am really excited to hear what the professor and my classmates have to say. I haven't read a children's book in years and wasn't really prepared. I recognize that I read this book like an adult rather than a child and suspect that seriously tainted my opinion. I thought the premise of the story was interesting - twins of an interracial family are entered into a beauty pageant for African Americans - but I thought the writing was didactic and the plot overly simplified (I know it is for children... I am hoping that this class will also help me read for children rather than just adults) and just too... Gooey. Ay children's librarians out there or people who know kids who have read this? What did you and the kids you know think?

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll start off by saying that I did enjoy this book.

Having said that, what child am I going to give it to? It's well-written. But it is written in that style that suggests that the author felt there was a gap in children's literature in the "interracial family, child having trouble with self-identity" category.

Authors: if you want to write a "self-help fiction" title for kids, please make it accessible. That means leaving out the extended introspective thought processes. There needs to be lots of interaction with other kids. And please don't beat them over the head with "issues." Kids don't want to read about issues in the school-age, tween years. Save that for the teen years when kids are looking for answers.

[Sandra Stiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Minnie and Keira are twins. They were born only seven minutes apart. However, Minni was born with reddish blond hair and white skin like her daddy. Keira was born with "cinnamon-brown" skin and dark curly hair like her mother. The girls are sent from Washington to North Caroline to visit their grandmother. She has entered them in the Miss Black Pear contest. For the first time, Keira feels like she fits in. Minni suddenly feels like she doesn't belong as they question whether she qualifies to be in the contest. This is a story that shows the struggle of being accepted for who you are no matter what your color. It also show how strong the bonds between sisters and especially twins are. This was an excellent book.

[Laurie]

Memorable story about close-knit twin sisters who are biracial and look very different from each other. It's a serious look at racial issues, but with lots of lighthearted moments and a pre-teen pageant plot that will really appeal to girls. (I almost wish the cover played up the pageant angle to get girls reading; it looks awfully serious.) The girls are appealing and realistic main characters. I was intrigued by Frazier's vivid depiction of the difference between being black in small-town Washington State and being black in North Carolina (the book takes place during the twins' visit to their black grandmother in NC).

Frazier is a Seattle-area author who I met at a conference earlier this year; this is her second novel for young readers, following Brendan Buckley's Universe.

[Pamela Hubbard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story of two sisters: Minni and Keira. They are twins, but couldn't look more different. Minni is white like her father while Keira is black like their mother. As the eleven year old girls enter the "Miss Black Pearl" pageant in North Carolina, they are thrust into a different world than that of their home in Port Townsend, WA. Keira is suddenly no longer the minority while Minni now learns how her sister feels on day-to-day basis. This book is told from Minni's perspective as she battles with the issues of race, identity, prejudice, etc.
This book raised a lot of issues that would probably hit home with tween girls. While it focused on race, it also dealt with things like others' views of us, talents, etc. Good clean story with likeable characters and clear themes.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a really good book. The girls leave to go to their Grandmothers house and most of the story takes place there. The girls, Minni and Keira are twins and best friends, but they are totally different. I liked how well the sisters got along and how they stuck up for each other. They have to enter a Miss Black Pearl pageant. It's an all black pageant and Minni is not looking forward to it. She is self conscious and doesn't want to stick out. Kiere is dyslexic and she can't read that well. I shared that in common with the character, but the book doesn't talk about it that much or how it affected her at the pageant. The book is really funny in some parts.
I like the author's writing style. It made me want to read more of her books.

[Linn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this tween book about twin sisters of a black mother and white father. The sisters look very different and are often confused for friends instead of sisters. They have very different personalities and interests, but both are painted as interesting, smart, and complicated, and neither is supposed to be better than the other. The part I liked the most was that the sister with light skin constantly wonders if she "is black" and wishes she looked "more black." They live in predominantly white Washington state but go south to compete in the annual "Miss Black Pearl Preteen Pageant."

Also, my 4th grade girls (students) LOVED it. Several girls formed an impromptu book club to read and talk about it together.