The Other Half of My Heart

Title: The Other Half of My Heart

 

Author: Sundee T. Frazier

 

Summary: Keira and Minni are a pair of African American/biracial twins. But by looking at them, one wouldn't know it. Minni is pink skinned and red haired, while Keira is dark brown skinned and kinky curly haired. They consider themselves best friends and they consider themselves both African American/black, because that really is what they are, despite the color of Minni's skin. However, both girls; especially Minni, are becoming increasingly aware that they are treated differently by people who do not know they are twins; all because of the color of their skin.

 Their friendship is put to the test when their Grandmother Johnson enters them into the Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America beauty program/pageant.

The girls do not know Grandmother Johnson very well, but they are both suddenly whisked away on a plane to her home alone, where they prepare for the program. Grandmother Johnson seems to have a bias against Keira, who, like her, is dark skinned. At the beauty pageant, Minni feels out of place because of her light skin in a sea of dark skinned girls. She manages to make a friend, but Keira is having a great time, finally being at a program where she is not the minority. Minni gets a feel of how Keira feels everyday when she is a minority at places like school and around town. Both girls get into a small argument as Keria begins to question whether Minni thinks she is better because of her skin color and why Grandmother Johnson seems to like Minni more.

The girls go to the pageant and repair things in the end, realizing that they are really the other half of each others' hearts.

 

Comments: I enjoyed this book. Minni and Keira obviously had a special connection, and it was unfortunate that Grandmother Johnson had to cause Keira to question whether they were really as close as she thought. However, the racial questions both girls had probably would've come up later anyway. I felt bad when the two girls were doubting each other, and it was surprising and sad to see Keira treated differently than Minni by some people, even though the book was set in modern times. The girls both had a loyalty to each other though, and they did both succeed in surviving Grandmother Johnson, who actually had a lot more to her personality and reasons for bias than one might guess.

I would recommend this book for kids ages 10+ just because very young children could be confused by the fact that there are still racial biases today, and they may be confused at the different race questions the girls have. For a child of 10+ though, this book would be very educational and interesting to read.

 

Complaints: None!

 

Rating: 5 stars!