Paradise Hill

Paradise Hill is the neighborhood where Neon lives with his family. Paradise Hill is an "old Black suburb with no sign or gate, just a name that [is] nowhere to be seen" (73). Neon is attached to Paradise Hill and prefers his neighborhood to the surrounding neighborhoods because this is where he grew up. He used to use the "fresh-blooming trees" as "bases for hide-and-seek" (73). He raced on the "jagged sidewalks" and "learned to ride a bike" down the neighborhood's "oil-stained streets" (73). To Neon, Paradise Hill is therefore home. He feels comfortable when he is here as he has a familial, historical, and cultural relationship to the place.

Kingman Park

Kingman Park is the neighborhood where Aria lives with her family. When Neon first visits Kingman Park, he takes his time "admiring the houses, all of which [are] different than the ones in Paradise Hill" (218). Whereas Paradise Hill...