Search This Blog

2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

2024 Challenge Sign-Up Post

January Reviews Link-Up

February Reviews Link-Up

March Reviews Link-Up

April Reviews Link-Up

May Reviews Link-Up

June Reviews Link-Up

July Reviews Link-Up

August Reviews Link-Up

September Reviews Link-Up

October Reviews Link-Up

November Reviews Link-Up

December Reviews Link-Up

My Progress:


9 / 30 books. 30% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California (3)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (1)
- North Carolina (1)
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia (1)
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*

International:
- Australia (1)
- Canada (1)
- England (5)
- France (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Scotland (1)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


12 / 51 states. 24% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


10 / 50 words. 20% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


15 / 50 books. 30% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


32 / 50 books. 64% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


27 / 52 books. 52% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


21 / 40 books. 53% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


13 / 40 books. 33% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


5 / 25 books. 20% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


17 / 26.2 miles. 65% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


15 / 100 books. 15% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


34 / 104 books. 33% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


31 / 52 books. 60% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


32 / 165 books. 19% done!
Monday, January 27, 2020

MG Novel Straightforward, Thought-Provoking, and Entertaining

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Twins are rare enough, but 11-year-old Minni King and her sister, Keira, are more unusual still.  Children of a Black mother and a white father, Minnie's skin matches her dad's while Keira's is the same shade as their mom's.  Their parents have always assured them that what matters most is that they're all part of the strong, tight-knit King Family, but that doesn't mean their unique family doesn't attract plenty of stares and ignorant comments from people in their mostly white Pacific Northwest community.  

When the girls' overbearing grandmother calls, insisting Minni and Keira come stay with her in Raleigh, North Carolina, in order to compete in the Miss Black Pearl contest, Keira's over the moon.  She's vivacious and gorgeous, the perfect candidate for a beauty pageant scholarship competition.  Shy and awkward, not to mention pale as milk, Minni can't think of anything more horrifying than being gawked at while prancing around a stage in a fussy dress and high heels.  Unable to talk her way out of going, Minni vows to face her fate with courage—the way her hero, Martin Luther King, always did.  
Mingling in a mostly Black society for the first time in her life, Minni feels very, very white.  While she struggles to define her own Blackness, she also bristles at her grandmother's constant criticism of Keira.  As the sisters each experience racism, prejudice, and confusion about their mixed ethnicities, they will both learn valuable lessons about identity, understanding, sisterhood, and family.  
As the white adoptive mother of a bi-racial child, I'm always glad to find books like The Other Half of My Heart by Sundee T. Frazier (who is the daughter of a Black father and a white mother).  They open my eyes to issues my daughter will likely face in her life and aid me in knowing how to help her through them.  While The Other Half of My Heart tackles issues like race and identity in a blunt, straightforward way, the story is also funny and entertaining enough to keep middle graders reading.  The plot's a bit loosey-goosey, but the story moves fast enough to prevent it from getting dull.  While the tale is predictable, I still found it enjoyable overall.  I listened to this one as an audiobook and especially liked the narrator, Bahni Turpin

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other novels about being Black (or bi-racial) in a white world, including The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond by Brenda Woods; Black Boy, White School by Brian F. Walker; Sell-Out by Ebony Joy Wilkins; SLAY by Brittney Morris; etc.)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:


To the FTC, with love:  I received a free audiobook of The Other Half of My Heart through a promotion at Audible.

4 comments:

  1. It's nice that this book explores bi-racial issues in a mostly effective way. Even if there were some issues with it it sounds like there were some real strong points.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a good premise. DNA is a fascinating this, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hallo, Hallo Susan,

    I had intended to spend the night reading your lovely blog - though I took ill awhile ago now and decided to visit this review and return when I feel a bit better after some rest! *le sigh*

    This is a title I found via my local library when I was seeking out diversity reads and #diverselit overall; I felt it had a strong premise but never had the chance to read it.

    I love how you've captured the essence of the novel within this review whilst giving us an open line of thought towards what we will soon discover about the girls' lives. I love reading stories about cross-cultural heritages as I grew up in a city full of diversity - culturally, ethnicities and religious heritages - whilst at the same time, I'm a Prospective Adoptive Mum who wants to adopt out of foster care in the future - so I can definitely relate to reading stories that are pro-positive about that experience and/or stories in the future I will seek out to be a better parent through having new perspectives to read which can identify with my (future) children's lives.

    Definitely going to re-borrow this at some point this year and finally see what there is to see inside the novel! I agree with you about plots which tend to have a strong premise, a good start and then either stall or slow down midway through -- sometimes they forget to loop back round to where they begun -- however, overall, I felt there was still enough heart and message in this story to appeal to my initial curiosity about it! Thanks for sharing your well-rounded thoughts & takeaways!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had not seen this book before, though I have heard of twins like Minnie and Kiera. Sounds like the story hit upon many relevant issues, while still bringing the warmth I expect from middle grades reads. I always feel like those authors handle these tougher topics really well.

    ReplyDelete

Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.

P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin


Reading

<i>Reading</i>
End of Story by A.J. Finn

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
My Contrary Mary by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows



Followin' with Bloglovin'

Follow

Followin' with Feedly

follow us in feedly



Grab my Button!


Blog Design by:


Blog Archive



2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Susan has read 0 books toward her goal of 200 books.
hide

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction