Module 7: The Other Half of My Heart

Summary: Minni and Keira King are one-in-a-million twins: Minni is fair with red hair, like their father, and Keira is dark skinned like their mother. Minni and Keira are the best of friends, with an unbreakable bond, until their grandmother from North Carolina calls them out to participate in the Miss Black Pearl of America Program. Minni faces complete acceptance from their grandmother but racism from the other girls in the pageant, while Keira finally feels like she belongs with the other girls, but her grandmother is hyper-critical of her. The girls learn that it isn't easy being in the other's shoes, and the conflict threatens their relationship. Through the strife of the pageant, Minni and Keira come to realize that they are each other's best support - two halves of the same heart.


Frazier, S. T. (2012). The other half of my heart. New York, NY: Yearling Books.

My Impression: This is now one of my favorite young adult books. The strife Minni and Keira feel is palpable. Minni's confusion, heartbreak, and ultimate realization that she isn't as saintly as she thought she was is a lesson that many young girls need to learn. The characters are realistic; the only two-dimensional character really is the twins' father, who is wonderfully supportive but a bit cardboard. The women in the story are nicely rounded. Grandmother Johnson, who starts out as a bit of a caricature, eventually gets her chance to show the girls who she is and her motivation for worrying over Keira's kinky hair and darker skin. This is one of the best realistic fiction novels for upper elementary/middle school students I have read.


Reviews:

"As in Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It (Delacorte, 2007), Frazier addresses issues faced by mixed-race children with a grace and humor that keep her from being pedantic. The story is enjoyable in its own right, but will also encourage readers to rethink racial boundaries and what it means to be black or white in America." - School Library Journal

Dare, K. (July 1, 2010). Grades 5 & up: The other half of my heart. School Library Journal. Retrieved October 7, 2011, from http://www.libraryjournal.com/slj/printissuecurrentissue/883830-427/grades_5-up.html.csp.

"Funny and deeply affecting, this novel by the Steptoe Award winner for Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It (2007) revisits the still largely unexplored world of multiracial heritage....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

 The Other Half of My Heart. (2010). Kirkus Reviews, 78(10), 462.


Uses in the Library: Black History Month, or as part of a display of books about family.