This Side of Home

Essence spends the first night of winter break at the twins’ house. When Maya shares that she feels like she and Devin have little in common, her sister and her best friend try to convince her that they’re perfect for each other because they’re both intelligent, driven, and Black. They tease Maya by asking if she has a crush on Tony before dismissing the idea as impossible because he’s white. Maya questions whether people have to have the same race and culture to form a strong, happy relationship, and Essence concedes that it comes down to personal preference. Inwardly, Maya wishes that her romantic feelings were simpler.

The next morning, Maya is awoken by Nikki’s alarm. When she goes across the hall to turn it off, she sees that her twin has brochures from colleges that are not HBCUs. She’s hurt that her sister might not go to Spelman and didn’t say anything to her. Nikki retorts, “[d]o I have to tell you everything?” (142).

Maya, Charles, and Star go to Tony’s house to brainstorm ways Richmond High can celebrate diversity. After the meeting, Maya stays to watch a Hitchcock film with Tony. He tells her that he’s liked her since their first conversation, and he asks if she likes him back. She protests that she isn’t supposed to like him and that she and Devin have known each other their whole lives before admitting that she shares his feelings. Maya and Tony kiss until they fall asleep in each other’s arms. They startle awake at midnight. Maya hurries home and makes it to her room without waking up her family, and she whispers Tony’s name to herself as she drifts to sleep.

Maya breaks up with Devin by leaving a letter at his dilapidated home. She doesn’t tell him about Tony, instead implying that she’s too busy with classes and college applications to have time for a relationship.

Devin comes to Maya’s house and tells her father that he earned a full ride to Morehouse College. Maya is so proud and happy for him that she sheds tears. He understands when she explains, “I think I wanted to be with you because everyone else wanted me to be” (153). They promise to always be friends.

Three days before Christmas, Maya and Tony brave the crowds on Jackson Avenue to do some holiday shopping together. Tony takes her hand, but she pretends that she’s cold and puts her hands in her pockets when she spots some of their classmates.

Tony researches the colleges with the highest ranked journalism programs, but Maya explains that her heart is set on Spelman because her mother and grandmother went there, she’ll be able to learn about Black history, and she’ll be part of a community committed to Black excellence. She concludes, “[w]ell, it might not be the best for journalism, but it’s the best for me” (158). Tony apologizes, but she reassures him that she’s glad that they can have honest discussions about important topics.

Tony’s parents come home, and he tells them that he and Maya were just working on a school assignment. Mr. Jacobs turns on a news story about a hostage situation at a nearby bank. This makes Mrs. Jacobs highly anxious, so Tony changes the channel. Maya’s first thought is whether the suspect is Black, a reflex she detests. For as long as she can remember, she has carried “the shame and pride of [her] Black brothers and sisters” (161). She wonders if white people ever feel that other white people’s actions reflect on them in this way.

A few days after Christmas, Tony surprises Maya by going to her house. He comes to her room while she is finishing getting ready, and he massages her hair with coconut oil. Maya feels “lost in him” when he kisses her neck (166).

Maya and Nikki don’t spend much time with each other over winter break, but their family always celebrates New Year’s Eve together. This year, Maya’s resolution is to tell the truth about her relationship with Tony.

School resumes. Maya tells Tony, Charles, and Star that she wants to invite the media to Richmond High’s annual Black History Month assembly, which is led by the students. To draw reporters, the group suggests inviting notable alumnus T.J. Downing to speak.

Principal Green turns down their idea and tells them that the school will be having a diversity assembly instead of the traditional Black History Month celebration. Maya counters that “Black History is for everyone” (172), but the principal says that his decision is final. Star rips some down some flyers for the diversity assembly, and Cynthia accuses her of being racist. A crowd gathers, but the principal disperses the students before a fight breaks out. While everyone else heads to class, Maya helps Star tear some more posters off the wall. Star writes the message, “WE DESERVE 28 DAYS” on the back of a poster and puts it back on the wall (175). Other students post their own messages. While some advocate for the school’s Black students, others are racist. Principal Green declares that anyone who posts something on school property without permission will be suspended for vandalism.

Mrs. Armstrong asks her journalism students to research a list of historical figures, including Ida B. Wells, Nancy Hicks Maynard, and Karl Fleming.

While doing her journalism homework, Maya learns that Ethel L. Payne is known as the First Lady of the Black Press. Payne wrote about the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the desegregation of Little Rock, Arkansas, and the 1963 March on Washington.

Star and Maya see a piece of paper taped to a wall that reads, “WE ALREADY KNOW YOUR HISTORY” (143). Instead of taking it down, Maya posts a photograph and a brief biography of Ethel L. Payne beside it. Star adds the message, “DO YOU KNOW HER?” (184). The girls hurry to class before anyone sees them.

Principal Green invites Maya to sing at the diversity assembly, but she declines. She explains her reasoning as Tony drives the twins and Kate home. To her, it feels forced that the program Green put together features “representatives from each culture or race, or whatever he wants to call it” (186). Tony expresses his desire to hear Maya sing at some point, and Nikki notices that there is something between him and her twin.