The Other Half of My Heart Audiobook

" The Other Half of my Heart is about twins who face the troubles of their skin being different colors. "

" Lovely novel about twins who are each born with a different skin color - one black, one white. This book show their struggle as they try to find their place in their family and in the world. "

" This book is about twin eleven-year-olds, Keira and Minerva, "Minni" King who are biracial. Keira has dark skin and curly hair, Minni has white skin and almost-straight, red hair. Their mother is black, their father, white. They live in a small town in Washington state, where there are exactly two black people, Keira and her mother, as one of their mother's friends callously points out. Minni is hurt when she overhears this statement. She feels keenly her lack of any outward signs that she is black and bemoans her lack of belonging. The story is told from Minni's perspective, so we don't get much of a sense of how Keira feels about herself and where she belongs, especially in the beginning. It does get a tiny bit tiresome to read Minni's complaints. We can only imagine that it's not easy for Keira in her hometown. In spite of her vivacious, upbeat personality it is challenging to be the only black kid in her class. Minni, with all her awkward shyness, is still more accepted. The tables turn when Keira and Minni go south to compete in the "Miss Black Pearl" scholarship program. There Keira has to deal with prejudice that she isn't really qualified to compete since she's not dark-skinned, and Keira, with her dark skin and curly hair, must contend with the prejudice that she is too dark. Added in the mix is Grandmother Johnson, "Pain-in-the-Butt" Payne, who hosts the girls during their bid for the crown. She hold her own hurtful views about Keira's appearance as she tries to groom the girls for success in the competition. It's a nice way of introducing young, independent readers to some civil rights history--they visit an African American History museum with their grandmother--and learn about some confusing aspectes about prejudice, but in the end, the book seems a bit heavy-handed and sentimental overall. "

" Cute, thought provoking book about a set of interracial twins. They have a white father and a black mother and are one of very few sets of twins that are born one black and one white. There are some great characters in the book and some interesting musings about what makes us who we are. It took me a while to get into it, but I ended up really liking it. "

" I downloaded this book from the Mesquite ISD digital library. "

" Less than I hoped it would be. An 11 year-old might enjoy the book. "

" This book gets 3.5 stars. Well-told story about biracial twins, where one looks completely black and the other white, entered into a preteen "Miss Black Pearl" contest by their southern grandmother. "

" I would consider using this book in a unit with Wonder by RJ Palacio. "

" I really wanted to love this book, but I didn't. I feel it moved slowly and just didn't think it was great. I loved the subject matter, and that alone gives it three stars. "

" Good story about twin mixed race girls coming to terms with bigotry and trying to maintain their loving bond with each other. "

" Heart warming story about biracial twin girls who look nothing alike. In fact, one looks black and one white. Parents do a good job trying to bridge both worlds for them. One grandmother is on board, the other one learns a lesson from the twins. "

" Had a slow start but totally had me wrapped up in it by the end. Twins Minerva and Keira are daughters of a white father and black mother. It shouldn't be a big deal but unfortunately, in our society, it still is. As they work through hurdles and feelings about racism, we learn a lot. "

" I think this book is a good addition to Battle of the Books. It portrays many of the issues facing mixed race children well. I will be very interested to see how my students receive it. "

" Sweet book. I thought it was realistic in its portrayal of Minnie's feelings. And I loved the grandmothers. Both of them were extreme but funny. "

" They really hammered home the black/white every color is the same point here so much so that the book became too long with the same theme. The story would've been fine if they just mentioned it once or twice. "

" Good story about twin mixed race girls coming to terms with bigotry and trying to maintain their loving bond with each other. "

" Sweet book. I thought it was realistic in its portrayal of Minnie's feelings. And I loved the grandmothers. Both of them were extreme but funny. "

" Had a slow start but totally had me wrapped up in it by the end. Twins Minerva and Keira are daughters of a white father and black mother. It shouldn't be a big deal but unfortunately, in our society, it still is. As they work through hurdles and feelings about racism, we learn a lot. "

" Minni and Keira are twins, but no one believes it because they don't look alike. One has light skin and the other has dark skin. (Their mom is black and their dad is white) When they enter The Miss Black Pearl Preteen America Pageant, will this difference break them apart? "

" when the "aboutness" of a book is so heavily tied up in the plotline it will inevitably come off as a bit didactic. An interesting meditation on racial identity nevertheless. "

" * sisters, family <br/>* race <br/>* twin sisters Keira and Minni learn what it means to be comfortable in their own skin while participating in a beauty/charachter pagent for young girls. "

" 3 1/2 stars. The author does a great job of relaying the subtleties of prejudice in our modern world. Great characters and real life situations. <br/> "

" Twins, one black, one white, go to Grandmothers house to be in the &quot;Miss Black Pearl&quot; pagaent. <br/> "