The Other Half of My Heart Book

The close relationship of a pair of biracial twins is tested when their grandmother enters them in a pageant for African American girls in this new story from Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award winner Sundee T. Frazier.
 
When Minerva and Keira King were born, they made headlines: 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 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 the truth.
 

Children's Literature

Most of the novels I review are in the "okay" category, but every once in a while I get a stunner to read. This is a stunner. Eleven-year-old twins Minni (Minerva) and Keira King have been turning heads all their lives since Minni is red haired and fair skinned like Daddy and Keira is dark haired and dark skinned like Mama. People are always mistaking them as just being friends, instead of twin sisters and best friends. Nobody thinks of Minni as being black, so she feels left out of the family. Things get even more complicated when their maternal grandmother insists they compete in the Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America Pageant/Program in Atlanta, Georgia—a world away from their small town in Washington state. Even Mama spends as little time as possible talking with her mother; how are the girls going to deal living with her house for ten whole days? Minni doesn't want to go, but Keira is thrilled to be in the pageant just like Mama was. The pageant organizers almost don't let Minni enter since she looks so white, but Grandmother prevails and Minni learns a song for the talent part. In the meantime, Grandmother works on making Keira "whiter." Minni learns that Keira has always felt like an outsider at home since there are few black people in their town. Because Minni is the whitest girl in the pageant, she understands Keira's pain, something she had never realized before. In the end Minni develops enough courage to confront Grandmother about her unfair treatment of Keira. Their grandmother explains what it was like growing up in the south before desegregation and how hurt she was when she discovered her blackness was holding back her lighter skinned grandmother. Reviewer: Sarah Maury Swan