This Side of Hope by Renee Watson

I always enjoy reading the featured books during Scholastic Book Fairs.  I think it's important to be able to seriously talk to students about books before they spend their hard earned money.  This is one of the titles my assistant read first.  She enjoyed it and was able to talk to students about it, so it was put on the tall stack of books for me to read later.  Flash forward to a long drive to Colorado - I can get some serious reading done!

This Side of Hope by Renee Watson is great for middle and high school collections.  It has a wonderful message about the real people in a neighborhood that was once neglected, but now is starting to become trendy.  Nikki and her twin sister are seniors at the high school with a poor reputation and have always lived in this community.  While they are proud of their neighborhood and happy for the attention, they don't want to lose their neighborhood's identity.  

Forced to deal with a new principal who wants to shove his agenda and make "positive" changes, along with neighborhood homes and shops becoming hip clothing stores and coffee shops, these girls struggle to maintain their black heritage.  I believe today's students will enjoy reading this and can relate to the characters.  Definitely a keeper and one I will recommend to students looking for a contemporary/realistic fiction book.