The Other Half of My Heart
  • Published: 15 June 2011
  • ISBN: 9780440240068
  • Imprint: RHUS Children's Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $17.99

The Other Half of My Heart

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Biracial twins' relationship is tested when their grandmother enters them in a pageant for African-American girls.

The story of biracial twin sisters—one black, one white—and the summer that tests their strong bond, from the author of Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award-winner Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It.
 
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 their 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 whether that’s really true.

"One luminous pearl of a sister story."--RITA WILLIAMS-GARCIA, author of the Newbery Honor Award-winner One Crazy Summer

Winner of the Skipping Stone Honor Award
 
*"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, Starred
 
*"Not only does Frazier raise questions worth pondering, but her ability to round out each character, looking past easy explanations for attitude, is impressive. . . . A novel with a great deal of heart indeed."—Booklist, Starred
  • Published: 15 June 2011
  • ISBN: 9780440240068
  • Imprint: RHUS Children's Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $17.99
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About the author

Sundee T. Frazier

In the fall of 2006, I was searching for a story idea when my editor shared a news item with me. Babies born to a mixed-race couple were getting press around the world because one was "black" and the other "white."

My editor wondered aloud what these girls' lives might be like when they were ten. The question caught my attention, and Minni and Keira King were born.

In a way, Minni and Keira represent the dual nature of my own heart, personality, and experience. But the girls also represent "sisters" everywhere – struggling to maintain solidarity in the face of a myriad of modern-day pressures.

The seed of the story idea came from a news article about actual twins, but of course The Other Half of My Heart was drawn completely from my own psyche and experience.

Questions of race and racial definitions have always been a part my life, from the first time an adult told me to check "black" on a school form because my father was black, to the surprised looks I get from people just discovering the truth behind my tan complexion.

As a biracial African-American who has often been mistaken as white, and as a biracial African-American who was often the only kid of color in her classes (albeit a light tan color!), I drew from both sides of my experience to create Minni's and Keira's characters.

Writing this story reinforced for me the truth that when it comes to standing up for what's right, or having a beautiful heart, it doesn't matter what color your skin is. Sisters (and brothers) come in all colors.


Sundee T. Frazier is also the author of Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It, for which she received the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award. As a teen, she was crowned Miss Palouse Empire and was first runner-up in the Washington State Junior Miss Program (not pageant). Learn more about her and her books at www.sundeefrazier.com.

Praise for The Other Half of My Heart

"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, Starred

"Not only does Frazier raise questions worth pondering, but her ability to round out each character, looking past easy explanations for attitude, is impressive. She also leavens the whole with easy humor and builds suspense over the pageant itself. Will the talented and outgoing Keira win the prize? Will Minni be able to overcome her shyness and shine? A novel with a great deal of heart indeed."--Booklist, Starred