The first time I read this, I was blown away and needed several days just to process it. I didn't bother reviewing because I just could not stop thinking about it, and I like to have coherent thoughts before I review. The second time I read this, still wow. Setting this in Portland, Oregon, is an interesting choice. Portland's Black community is small, and it added interesting dynamics to the story. Seattle's is, too, and I am from Seattle. I'm white, so I can't speak to it. Setting it also in the middle of gentrification adds even more elements. I related hardcore to the gentrification part--people moving away, businesses changing, new people making odd remarks--as I have lived in Seattle my whole life, and gentrification hit my city hard in 2010. Eleven years later as of this writing, gentrification continues to grow exponentially. Lifelong Seattle residents are being pushed into Tacoma, which is another county entirely, and Seattle suburbs. California residents are settling happily into our old homes as rents skyrocket and food prices increase, and are for some reason shocked that sun is so rare. I burst out laughing when one of them sadly discovered Seattle winters (clouds clouds clouds and rrrraiiin), and another discovered we don't have air conditioning, and she was shocked to discover that I don't exactly know what it is. It's cold air. We don't need it here. Doooo your research on weather, people, when you move somewhere new. Doooo your research. So that's about meee when I want to go back to this book.

This is a coming-of-age set squarely in teen years, and I couldn't relate to the kind of teenager Maya was. I don't understand why schools have student bodies or councils and stuff, and school dances were never my thing. (shrug) I still liked her and wanted things to go well for her. It's indeed hard to realize that your friends' and siblings' plans change from yours, especially in high school. -That-, I fully understood. Her then-boyfriend in the novel only talking to her about colleges--I didn't pick up until this second read, and late into the book anyway, that he was fixating on them to avoid talking to her since the romance was going out of their relationship. They were friends and didn't want to break up. I was glad it was pointed out, "We don't have much in common," because I was trying to remember if, in my teen years, I had stayed with anyone for long after discovering that. I did not. And then he goes and dances with another girl at prom whos' been constantly rude to Maya. Oh, my heart broke for Maya. She dates a boy who is white after, and her perception of the relationship--that would have never occurred to me. And he tells her "you should go to journalism schools, don't sell yourself short," rather than support her choices and reasons to go to the HBCU she wanted. -That- was a conversation that I was glad I got to read about, when she explained her reasons why. "You get to see white people in a variety of situations and I don't," is me paraphrasing. The entire conversation was powerful. I applauded. The assignments on civil rights leaders and journalists never felt like info-dumping. It felt like a real classroom lesson, and I was pleased. Her white boyfriend sitting there going, "I stopped after I realized all these people were Black journalists," and not completing the assignment because he figured he had a handle on it: THAT WAS SO GOOD TO HAVE IN THERE. SO REALISTIC. And then he finds out the people he skipped over were white allies! SO GOOD TO HAVE IN THERE. The ending made me smile a little. It fit. I'm glad this book was written and I hope it's widely read. ( )

This modern-day novel follows African American twin sisters as they grow up and confront change and gentrification in their neighborhood. Suddenly their community, friendships, and even their own relationship seems different.

"The summer before Maya and Nikki’s senior year of high school brings new challenges as their previously all-black neighborhood becomes attractive to other ethnic groups.

The twins, while still close, have been changing in recent years and now find they have very different views about the changes. Nikki is delighted with improvements in their surroundings, but Maya is concerned they come at too steep a price. When their best friend’s family is displaced, the rift deepens: Maya wants to maintain their connection to Essence, while Nikki has become close to newcomer Kate. Nikki may even be abandoning their long-held plan to attend Spelman College together. Their new principal appears willing to sacrifice many of the traditions the African-American students hold dear. And though Maya and Devin are a long-established couple, Maya finds herself drawn to Kate’s brother, Tony, despite her misgivings about interracial dating. Eventually, the students find a way to reach across the divides and honor the community’s past while embracing its changing present. Maya’s straightforward narration offers an intriguing look at how families and young people cope with community and personal change. Maya and her friends are well-drawn, successful characters surrounded by a realistic adult supporting cast. Readers may be surprised to find this multicultural story set in Portland, Oregon, but that just adds to its distinctive appeal.

Here’s hoping Watson’s teen debut will be followed by many more. (Fiction. 12-16)" www.kirkusreviews.com

Moved a little slow for me, so I kept putting it down and picking it up again. As always, Renee Watson has nuanced ideas about the most important issues of our time; these characters just felt a little too much like mouthpieces for ideas rather than real people. ( )

Maya is a senior in high school, and she's having to deal with a lot of changes in her life. Her best friend and twin sister seem to be questioning the plans they'd all made together for their college lives. Her formerly mostly black neighborhood is undergoing gentrification and turning into a place that no longer feels like it belongs to her. And then there's her growing attraction towards the white boy who just moved in across the street.

The writing here definitely has that slightly choppy feel that seems to practically define YA novels these days, and that I've always found very slightly off-putting. And much of the dialog doesn't seem particularly likely to come out of the mouths of real teenagers. But the characters and their situations do feel realistic, and the social issues at the heart of the story are approached in a nuanced and warm-hearted way. Ultimately, it's not just about race or about gentrification, but about having an identity both as an individual and as a member of a community.

I'm not exactly in the target audience for this, being long past my teens (and, as noted above, not entirely thrilled with YA writing styles), but it worked for me, regardless, and I think I would recommend it to actual teenagers. ( )