60 pages • 2 hours read
Chrystal D. GilesA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Wes’s dad sends the kids to Wes’s room so that the parents can discuss whatever is upsetting them. The kids speculate about what the problem could be and hope that nobody has died. Mya accuses the boys of stealing and complains about how small Wes’s bedroom is. Brent argues that Mya’s comments are informed by her white privilege because she is of both white and Black heritage, whereas the rest of the group is Black.
The adults explain that nobody has died, but “Simmons Development Group” (50) has offered to purchase Kensington Oaks. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they will all have to move, but it could be a possibility.
Wes is upset about the possibility of moving, so to calm himself, he works on his new superhero puzzle from Mr. Hank. Wes’s parents do not want to move because Wes’s mom grew up in this house, and her father saved for a long time to be able to afford it. Back then, mostly white families lived in Kensington Oaks, but once Black families started moving in, white families started leaving. Wes’s parents want to protect Black history, which includes the neighborhood.
Wes and his friends go to a new milkshake shop near Kensington Oaks. They enjoy the milkshakes but suspect that all the new shops and restaurants popping up near their neighborhood are related to Simmons’s reason for wanting to buy property in the area. The kids also notice unfamiliar police officers nearby instead of the ones who usually patrol Kensington Oaks. The officers eye the kids suspiciously. As of now, none of the kids want to move, but they know that some residents might sell their houses if they’re offered enough money.
Mr. Baker gives his students a major project that is due in two months. They must choose a meaningful, possibly personal topic related to social justice, write a report, and give a presentation. Wes has no idea what to pick, so he decides to procrastinate because the deadline is far away.
Wes attends a board meeting in which Kensington Oaks residents discuss the Simmons offer. Wes’s mom runs the meeting, but people keep talking over her because they are confused and have differing opinions. Simmons’s offer is valid for two months. Some residents want to sell because the offer exceeds the market value of their houses; they worry that if they reject this offer, there will not be a second one. Other residents like Jas’s mom don’t want to sell because they want to protect the neighborhood’s heritage. A representative from Simmons named Carla Glass says that Simmons would ideally like to purchase the entire area within a few months. They want to replace the neighborhood with condos and shops. Not much gets accomplished at the meeting; residents argue but do not agree on a single solution.
Wes and Alyssa research Simmons at the library. Wes’s mom used to be a librarian, so she taught Wes how to do effective research. He discovers that Simmons is the same group that bought and demolished Kari’s old building; the company plans to build new condos in its place. They have also bought several other properties near Kensington Oaks. Wes discovers an article by Mr. Baker called “Is Gentrification the New Segregation?” (70). Through this, he learns that “gentrification” is the process by which working-class people are displaced and neighborhoods are demolished to make way for wealthier residents and fancier buildings. Wes realizes that Kari has already experienced this and that his own family and neighbors now face the same issue.
Brent’s parents now want to sell because it would financially benefit their family; they have less money than Wes’s family does. Wes approaches Mr. Baker about his article and explains what is happening to Kensington Oaks. Mr. Baker suggests that Wes work with his parents and neighbors. He also knows some community organizers who may be able to help. Mr. Baker is proud of Wes for taking a stand for his community; this pleases Wes.
Wes invites his friends to Mr. Baker’s classroom after school, asking if they want to join his fight to save Kensington Oaks from Simmons. Alyssa, Jas, and Kari want to help, but Mya and Brent don’t. Mya believes that since she no longer lives in Kensington Oaks, this issue doesn’t concern her. Brent doesn’t want to contradict his parents, who plan on selling so that they can move into a bigger house in a different neighborhood. Wes isn’t surprised by Mya’s lack of interest, but he is hurt by Brent's stance on the issue.
Mr. Baker explains that in the 1960s, many wealthier white families moved out of the cities and into the suburbs, but now, wealthier white people are moving back to the cities, displacing brown, Black, and working-class people. Kari asks Mr. Baker, who is white, if it is true that he’s married to a Black woman, but Mr. Baker doesn’t want to discuss this.
Mr. Baker has a friend named Ms. Monica who works with a group called “Save Our City” (78) and advocates for places like Kensington Oaks. She comes to visit the kids after school and learns about their situation, hoping to help. She explains that Simmons likely wants to buy Kensington Oaks due to its proximity to the downtown area. Developers often buy “run-down” properties because such places are cheap. Then, they redevelop the areas and mark up the prices before reselling. This practice contributes to gentrification because wealthier people replace the working-class residents who have been displaced. Gentrification often brings new shops, businesses, and jobs, but the original residents are not the ones who benefit from this because they have been displaced by that point and cannot afford to move back. The kids believe that this is unfair. They want to improve their own neighborhood and stay put, but Ms. Monica says that this plan might be too expensive and time-consuming. She suggests that the kids start by finding out how many families plan to sell to Simmons. Wes feels guilty because he did not want to help Kari when his family was forced to move, but now that Kensington Oaks is in jeopardy, Kari is helping him.
While walking to school on Monday morning, Wes and his friends see Ms. Elise, who is on the community board, putting up signs that read, “WE AREN’T MOVING” (82). She already put up signs like this once before, but someone vandalized and removed the first batch, and she looks uncharacteristically upset as she sets up the second batch.
In math class, they play “Math Jeopardy” and to Wes’s delight, he gets a question right near the end. The game is fun and almost makes him forget that he hates math. Reflecting on how Ms. Hardy “tricked” the kids into enjoying math with a fun game, Wes thinks that he and his friends can get his neighbors to quit fighting by planning something fun. They decide to hold a block party in the neighborhood park, with food provided by Save Our City, music, and a slideshow with pictures of everyone having fun together. Hopefully, this will remind people that Kensington Oaks is a lovely community that is worth saving. Wes’s parents are impressed by his plan and want to help.
Mya doesn’t think it’s so bad that some families plan to sell their houses and leave Kensington Oaks. The tension between Brent and Wes increases because Brent feels that his family has no choice but to sell their house, whereas Wes feels that selling is unacceptable because it will invite gentrification and erase Black heritage. Wes, Alyssa, Kari, and Jas create fliers advertising the block party and hang them up around the neighborhood.
Wes’s character develops significantly in this section, largely as a result of Simmons Development Group’s offer to purchase Kensington Oaks. Wes still enjoys video games, basketball, fashion, and friends, but as soon as his community is threatened, he realizes The Importance of Youth Activism and Leadership. He still spends time with friends, but now, he invites them to help research Simmons, strategize how to fight gentrification, or plan block parties instead of just hanging out. This shift demonstrates his maturing priorities. To pursue his new goals, Wes uses some of his old skills, such as library research and problem-solving, and this pattern suggests that Wes is resourceful enough to use his longstanding tools and prior knowledge to help solve a new problem. As a result of Wes’s newly demonstrated commitment to social justice and youth leadership, he earns positive attention and even praise from his teacher, Mr. Baker, and this approval inspires him to seek out the next step in his goals and broaden his roster of potential teammates, which will serve him well on the coming journey in social justice.
In this section, Simmons Development Group emerges as the novel’s main antagonist, for although Simmons is not an individual person, it nonetheless has agency and takes actions that propel the process of gentrification forward. On a more abstract level, gentrification itself is the broader antagonist at work, for just as Simmons attempts to thwart the protagonist’s plans and desires, the gentrification process inexorably destroys existing communities on a much larger scale. Like many villains, Simmons seems to get worse the more Wes learns about it. He discovers that not only are they trying to dismantle his community, but they have also already dismantled Kari’s home, and are attempting to gentrify the entire area, potentially displacing many more people. Despite this impending threat, Wes also gains power by learning more about Simmons, for by naming the problem (gentrification), he is able to brainstorm workable strategies to address it. For Wes, facing the antagonist is far more effective than running away from it or trying to ignore it.
These chapters also further illustrate The Impact of Gentrification on Communities, for Simmons’s actions are sowing division within the Kensington Oaks community well before any actual demolition or construction of buildings begins. At this point, nobody has sold to Simmons or moved, but neighbors begin fighting and arguing immediately after the Simmons offer is released, which makes the neighborhood feel like less of a community even though everyone is still present. This rising discord suggests that Simmons is causing an emotional displacement among the residents rather than a literal or physical displacement. Wes’s interactions with Brent are a prime example of these interpersonal conflicts, for the two boys’ friendship becomes strained when Brent’s parents want to sell while Wes’s family is determined to stay and fight. This dynamic illustrates how powerfully children can be affected by gentrification even though the process is mostly out of their hands.
On a broader scale, the novel emphasizes that although new shops and restaurants are the most immediately visible impact of gentrification, their appearance is only one part of the story: the part that makes gentrification seem like a positive phenomenon with no negative consequences. The more negative aspects of this process are demonstrated when Wes and his friends visit a new milkshake shop in their area. On this outing, their first thought is that the shop is fun and inviting and serves delicious food. In order to see the underbelly of the new shops and restaurants, Wes has to look beneath the surface and consider facts that the development group would probably rather have people ignore. Because Wes knows someone (Kari) who was displaced from his home in order for the milkshake shop to be built, the area takes on an ominous, problematic undertone, reminding him of the possibility that his own house could also be replaced by a new restaurant. If that proves to be the case, he realizes that other kids would then visit without realizing what had to be destroyed in order for the restaurant to be built.
This section contains considerable foreshadowing when Wes’s parents assert that they don’t want to sell their house and move because they believe it is important to protect their heritage and history. Wes’s parents are talking about how his grandfather saved money for a long time to be able to afford the house they now live in, and they are also conscious of the fact that Kensington Oaks has become a predominantly Black neighborhood since Wes’s mother was a child. However, there is even more truth to their statement about protecting history than they know, because Kensington Oaks is historically significant beyond what any of the characters yet realize. The neighborhood’s historical significance also ends up providing the key that will save it from total demolition, so by emphasizing the importance of protecting heritage and history, Wes’s parents unknowingly give their son a clue that will come in handy later.
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