Lucie's Reviews > This Side of Home

Young adult fiction about gentrification in Portland Oregon? This book was made for me!

"This Side of Home" follows Maya, a high school senior living in a historically black neighborhood in Portland, over the course of a year. Maya and her twin sister Nikki are starting to grow apart as they feel differently about how to deal with the changes in their neighborhood - changes that impact their best friend Essence as well as the culture of their high school.

Watson did a wonderful job of building a relatable story around real issues of gentrification in a way that would be digestible to a young teen who is just starting to learn about this problem. It's even handed, and couples the discriminatory factors that lead to gentrification in unison with the growth of Maya, the main character. I thought the romance was also handled beautifully - not too dramatic or cliched, but with a realistic amount of angst for teenagers!