This Side of Home

March brings rain and longer daylight hours.

During Maya’s two-day suspension, Essence, Nikki, and Tony keep her updated on the goings-on at school. Tony calls to tell her that Principal Green has approved her suggestion to invite alumni to the senior block party and wants local businesses there, too. For the first time, everyone on the student council is in agreement. Tony’s birthday is two days away, and Maya sings to Tony to give him a hint that her present for him is a CD.

Mrs. Thelma dies in her sleep, and Maya goes to the coffee shop that used to be the woman’s home to try and feel close to her. There she meets an elderly man named Mr. Washington who teaches her about some of the city’s Black history. He explains that the Sankofa bird on her necklace is a symbol that represents “taking lessons from the past and bringing it into the present in order to make progress” (262). Mr. Washington tells her that the city has tried to break up the Black community under the pretense of urban renewal ever since the 1948 Vanport flood. The flood destroyed the homes of 17,000 people, the majority of whom were Black.