A Comprehensive Guide: What’s Mine and Yours
What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: March 2, 2021
352 pages, 12 hours and 15 minutes
Buy Now
Book Description
From the author of Halsey Street, a sweeping novel of legacy, identity, the American family--and the ways that race affects even our most intimate relationships.
A community in the Piedmont of North Carolina rises in outrage as a county initiative draws students from the largely Black east side of town into predominantly white high schools on the west. For two students, Gee and Noelle, the integration sets off a chain of events that will tie their two families together in unexpected ways over the next twenty years.
On one side of the integration debate is Jade, Gee's steely, ambitious mother. In the aftermath of a harrowing loss, she is determined to give her son the tools he'll need to survive in America as a sensitive, anxious, young Black man. On the other side is Noelle's headstrong mother, Lacey May, a white woman who refuses to see her half-Latina daughters as anything but white. She strives to protect them as she couldn't protect herself from the influence of their charming but unreliable father, Robbie.
When Gee and Noelle join the school play meant to bridge the divide between new and old students, their paths collide, and their two seemingly disconnected families begin to form deeply knotted, messy ties that will shape the trajectory of their adult lives. And their mothers--each determined to see her child inherit a better life--will make choices that will haunt them for decades to come.
As love is built and lost, and the past never too far behind, What's Mine and Yours is an expansive, vibrant tapestry that moves between the years, from the foothills of North Carolina, to Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Paris. It explores the unique organism that is every family: what breaks them apart and how they come back together.
Why We Picked This Book: We chose What's Mine and Yours when we saw it billed as "a sweeping novel of legacy, identity, the American family—and the ways that race affects even our most intimate relationships." We select books that encourage engaging conversations through their storytelling.
What to Drink While Reading: We’ll be drinking a glass of peppery, full-bodied red wine with it.
Best Place to Read: This book explores many different locations, and while now may not be the best time to travel, you can get a similar experience by reading What’s Mine and Yours in a new place! Try a park you’ve never visited or an outdoor coffeeshop.
What to Listen to After Reading: Belletrist created a playlist for the book that we think is spot on! Also, watching this video of Naima explaining what inspired the novel.
Articles to Read: Nikole Hannah Jones was the inspiration behind the story, so check out any of her articles.
