" 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. "
— LJ, 2/8/2014