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• The 1619 Project: Born on the Water Kokila (New York, NY), 2021
• She Persisted: Oprah Winfrey Philomel Books (New York, NY), 2021
• Maya's Song Harper (New York, NY), 2022
• Ways to Share Joy Bloomsbury (New York, NY), 2022

1. Ways to share joy LCCN 2022951341 Type of material Book Personal name Watson, Renée, author. Main title Ways to share joy / Renée Watson, Andrew Grey. Edition Large print. Published/Produced Waterville : Thorndike Press, 2023. Projected pub date 2304 Description pages cm ISBN 9798885788342 (hardcover) Item not available at the Library. Why not? 2. Maya's song LCCN 2022930115 Type of material Book Personal name Watson, Renée, author. Main title Maya's song / Renée Watson, Bryan Collier. Edition First edition. Published/Produced New York : Harper, 2022. Projected pub date 2209 Description pages cm ISBN 9780062871589 (hardcover) Item not available at the Library. Why not? 3. Born on the water LCCN 2021034692 Type of material Book Personal name Hannah-Jones, Nikole, author. Main title Born on the water / by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson ; illustrated by Nikkolas Smith. Published/Produced New York : Kokila, 2021. Description 1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 24 cm ISBN 9780593307359 (hardcover) CALL NUMBER PZ7.1.H36378 Bo 2021 FT MEADE Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE 4. Oprah Winfrey LCCN 2021029313 Type of material Book Personal name Watson, Renée, author. Main title Oprah Winfrey / written by Renée Watson ; interior illustrations by Gillian Flint. Published/Produced New York : Philomel, 2021. Description 54 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm. ISBN 9780593115985 (hardcover) 9780593115992 (trade paperback) (ebk) CALL NUMBER PN1992.4.W56 W38 2021 FT MEADE Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE

• Renée Watson website - https://www.reneewatson.net/

  Renée Watson is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, educator, and community activist. Her books have sold over one million copies. Her young adult novel, Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017) received a Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Honor. Her children's picture books and novels for teens have received several awards and international recognition. She has given readings and lectures at many renown places including the United Nations, the Library of Congress, and the U.S. Embassy in Japan and New Zealand. Her poetry and fiction centers around the experiences of Black girls and women, and explores themes of home, identity, and the intersections of race, class, and gender.

  Her books include young adult novels, Love is a Revolution, Piecing Me Together, This Side of Home, and Watch Us Rise, co-written with Ellen Hagan. Her middle grade novels include the Ryan Hart series, (Ways to Make Sunshine and Ways to Grow Love), Some Places More Than Others, Betty Before X, co-authored with Ilyasah Shabazz, and What Momma Left Me. Her picture book, Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills received several honors including an NAACP Image Award nomination in children’s literature.

  Photo Credit-Shawnte Sims
  One of Renée’s passions is using the arts to help youth cope with trauma and discuss social issues. Her picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen is based on poetry workshops she facilitated with children in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

  Renée was a writer in residence for over twenty years teaching creative writing and theater in public schools and community centers throughout the nation. She founded I, Too Arts Collective, a nonprofit that was housed in the home of Langston Hughes from 2016-2019. Watson is on the Council of Writers for the National Writing Project and is a member of the Academy of American Poets’ Education Advisory Council. She is also a writer-in-residence at The Solstice Low-Residency Creative Writing Program of Pine Manor College.

  Renée grew up in Portland, Oregon, and splits her time between Portland and New York City.

  When Renée Watson was seven years old, she wrote a 21-page story and her teacher told her, “I think you’re going to be a writer one day!” And she was right. Renée’s been writing ever since: poetry, plays, and books. Some of Renée’s books include Ways to Make Sunshine, Some Places More Than Others, and This Side of Home. She also wrote Watch Us Rise with her good friend Ellen Hagan. Her novel Piecing Me Together won two very special awards, the Coretta Scott King Award and the Newbery Honor.

  Renée Watson grew up in Portland, Oregon. Many of her books are inspired by the neighborhood she lived in. When Renée is working on a new book, she makes a playlist of songs she thinks her main character would like and listens to it while she writes. She does most of her writing in her writing nook, surrounded by inspiring quotes, photos of loved ones, and art. All because of her books, Renée has traveled to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, and many places in the United States. Of all the places Renée has traveled to, her two favorite places are Oregon and New York. She loves them so much, she lives in both places—Portland and Harlem. Renée believes that words are powerful and she wants to use her words to inspire, heal, and change the world.

• Wikipedia -

  Renée Watson (author)
  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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  For the science communicator and entrepreneur, see Renée Watson (scientist).
  Renée Watson
  Renée Watson 2019.jpg
  Born July 29, 1978 (age 44)
  Paterson, New Jersey
  Occupation Writer and Teacher
  Genre Young Adult, Picture Books, Middle Grade
  Years active 2010–present
  Notable works Piecing Me Together, Watch Us Rise, Betty Before X
  Notable awards John Newbery Honor Book 2018, Coretta Scott King Author Award 2018, Josette Frank Award 2018
  Website
  www.reneewatson.net
  Renée Watson (born July 29, 1978) is an American teaching artist and author of children's books, best known for her award-winning and New York Times bestselling young adult novel Piecing Me Together,[1] for which she received the John Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Author Award, and Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Josette Frank Award for fiction. Watson founded the nonprofit I, Too, Arts Collective to provide creative arts programs to the Harlem community.[2]

  Contents
  1 Early life
  2 Career
  2.1 Teaching
  2.2 Writing
  3 I, Too, Arts Collective
  4 Selected works
  5 Bibliography
  6 Awards and Recognitions
  7 References
  8 External links
  Early life
  Watson was born in Paterson, New Jersey and grew up in northeast Portland, Oregon after her parents' divorce. Her mother's family is originally from West Virginia.[3] Watson attended Vernon Elementary School, Binnsmead Middle School, and Jefferson High School in Portland Oregon.[4] She was a member of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church where she recited poetry on holidays and special occasions.[5] She loved poetry from a young age and read the work of poets like Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes.[6] When she first read poems by Hughes in elementary school, Watson felt a strong connection to them and sense of herself, her family, and her neighbors reflected in his work.[2] Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street was one of the formative works of her childhood.[7] From a young age, she knew she was interested in writing and was encouraged to pursue this by her teachers and family.[8] In middle school, she wanted to be a lawyer for a time.[9] This was also when she wrote her first play, which her middle school produced as their spring show.[3] While in high school she participated in a mentorship and has since returned to mentor others at her former high school. As a senior she also assisted in teaching poetry to underclassmen.[6] Watson describes herself as a teaching artist, having spent twenty years teaching poetry and theater before becoming a novelist.[10] She moved to New York in 2005 where she attended The New School to study creative writing and art therapy. While she was in school she published her first book.[6][2] In the future she hopes to publish adult fiction and poetry books in addition to her young adult and children's books.[6]

  Career
  Teaching
  Watson has spent over 20 years as a teaching artist throughout the country.[10] She has partnered with outside organizations to lead workshops and to be an artist in residence at various schools. She has taught poetry, writing and theater classes around the US.[3] For example, she has taught poetry at DreamYard, a Bronx-based youth educational nonprofit,[11] and is a member of the DreamYard 2019 Board of Directors.[12] Additionally, Watson has run poetry and theater workshops that aim to help children deal with traumas from various sources (such as natural disasters and sexual assault).[13] Likewise, Watson was a Writer in residence at the Schools and Self Enhancement Inc, a Portland-based nonprofit organization that works with underprivileged youth in the North-Portland area.[14] Watson has also put on professional development workshops for teachers and adult artists.[13]

  Writing
  In 2019, Watson celebrated 10 years of being a published writer.[10] Watson has been writing since she was in the second grade, when she wrote a 21-page story.[15] Her first children's book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, was published June 22, 2010 and is a product of her nonprofit work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.[16] Watson's second picture book, Harlem's Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills, was published October 23, 2012, and received multiple awards and nominations.[17] Watson's Young Adult novels include This Side of Home (published February 3, 2015), Piecing Me Together (published February 14, 2017), and Watch Us Rise (Feb 12, 2019).[18] Her poem, "Black Like Me," was published by Rethinking Schools,[19] along with other articles and interviews Watson wrote. Her poetry also appears in the Theatre of the Mind and With Hearts Ablaze.[13] Ways to Make Sunshine, a middle-grade novel was published on April 28, 2020.[20][21]

  Watson uses her position as an author to speak up about seeking counseling and therapy when needed.[3]

  Watson performed "Roses are Red Women are Blue," a one-woman show, at the Lincoln Center in New York City.[22]

  I, Too, Arts Collective
  When Watson first moved to New York and explored Harlem landmarks, she was disappointed to learn that the former home of Harlem Renaissance author Langston Hughes was not open to the public. In 2016, after growing concerned that the historical home may be lost to gentrification,[6] Watson found the current owner and shared her vision to open up the home to visitors. The owner agreed if Watson could afford to lease the brownstone, and in just 30 days, Watson raised the necessary money by starting the fundraising campaign #LangstonsLegacy.[2]

  Watson founded the I, Too, Arts Collective named after the famous Langston Hughes' poem, "I, Too." The board of the nonprofit decided that Hughes' former brownstone should not be turned into a museum, but should be a creative space for the Harlem community. Since opening the space to the public in 2017, the collective provides creative arts programs such as poetry workshops and drum classes for children and adults. They also host a range of literary events such as book launch parties and readings.[2][6]

  Watson originally hoped to raise enough money to buy the landmark and renovate the second floor. She wanted to provide fellowships for out-of-town artists to stay in the house in exchange for providing creative workshops to the community.[6]

  On November 4, 2019, The I, Too, Arts Collective announced on their website that they will be closing when their lease ends on December 31, 2019. They were unable to come to a new lease agreement with the owner. Their digital archives will remain available on their website.[23] Caleb Watson is her nephew

  Selected works
  Watson's first picture book A Place Where Hurricanes Happen was inspired by her work with students who had experienced Hurricane Katrina. After working with the kids to create their own poetry she wrote this book which follows four kids as they tell about life before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina.[8] She initially wrote it as part of a creative writing assignment while at The New School and was encouraged to publish it by her professor.[3]

  Watson's second young adult novel, Piecing Me Together, was published by Bloomsbury in 2017.[24] It tells the story of Jade, a poor African-American teenager at a predominantly white Portland, Oregon high school who struggles with the prejudice of the people surrounding her. It debuted at number nine on the New York Times young adult hardcover bestseller list on March 18, 2018.[1] It also received several starred reviews,[25][26] won the Coretta Scott King Author Award[27] and the Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Josette Frank Award for fiction, and was a Newbery Honor Book.[28] Watson's relationships with the black women she knew growing up and a 2014 NAACP report exploring struggles exclusive to African-American girls inspired her to write this novel.[29]

  Together with the subject's daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz, she co-authored Betty Before X, a fictionalized account of civil rights leader Dr. Betty Shabazz's life in 1945 Detroit prior to meeting Malcolm X.[30]

  Watson's third young adult novel, Watch Us Rise, about two best friends who start a women's rights club in their high school, was published by Bloomsbury in 2019. It's co-written with author Ellen Hagan.[31]

  For both her first picture book A Place Where Hurricanes Happen and her latest middle grade novel Some Places More Than Others, Watson worked with illustrator Shadra Strickland.[32]

  Bibliography
  Picture books

  A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, illustrated by Shadra Strickland (Random House, 2010)
  Harlem's Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Random House, 2012)
  The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, co-written with Nikole Hannah-Jones, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith (Penguin Young Readers, 2021)
  Young adult novels

  This Side of Home (Bloomsbury, 2015)
  Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017)
  Watch Us Rise, co-written with Ellen Hagan (Bloomsbury, 2019)
  Love is a Revolution (Bloomsbury, 2021)
  Middle Grade novels

  What Momma Left Me (Bloomsbury, 2010)
  Betty Before X, co-written with Ilyasah Shabazz (Macmillan, 2018)
  Some Places More Than Others (Bloomsbury, 2019)
  Ways to Make Sunshine (Bloomsbury, 2019)
  Contributions

  Forward, The Hunter Maiden: Feminist Folktales from Around the World by Ethel Johnston Phelps (The Feminist Press, 2017)
  "Half a Moon," Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, edited by Ibi Zoboi (Balzer + Bray, 2019)
  The (Other) F Word: A Celebration of the Fat and Fierce, edited by Angie Manfredi (Amulet, 2019)
  "Letting Go," Every Body Shines: Sixteen Stories About Living Fabulously Fat, edited by Cassandra Newbould (Bloomsbury YA, 2021)
  Awards and Recognitions
  2011: Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Books of the Year for What Momma Left Me (Bloomsbury, 2010)[33]
  2011: Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Books of the Year for A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, illustrated by Shadra Strickland (Random House, 2010)[33]
  2013: Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Books of the Year for Harlem's Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Random House, 2012)[33]
  2016: Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Books of the Year for This Side of Home (Bloomsbury, 2015)[33]
  2018: John Newbery Honor for Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017)[28]
  2018: Winner, Coretta Scott King Author Award for Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017)[27]
  2018: Winner of Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Josette Frank Award for fiction and Best Books of the Year with "Outstanding Merit" for Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017)[33][34]
  2019: Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Books of the Year with "Outstanding Merit" for Betty Before X, co-written with Ilyasah Shabazz (Macmillan, 2018)[33]
  2019: Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Books of the Year with "Outstanding Merit" for Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, edited by Ibi Zoboi, containing an entry by Renée Watson (Balzer + Bray, 2019)[33]
  2020: Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Books of the Year for Ways to Make Sunshine (Bloomsbury, 2019)[33]
  2020: Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Books of the Year for Some Places More Than Others (Bloomsbury, 2019)[33]
  2022: Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Books of the Year for Love Is a Revolution (Bloomsbury, 2021)[35]
  2022: Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Books of the Year with "Outstanding Merit" for The 1619 Project: Born on the Water co-written with Nikole Hannah-Jones, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith (Penguin Young Readers, 2021)[35]
  2022: Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Books of the Year for Every Body Shines: Sixteen Stories About Living Fabulously Fat, edited by Cassandra Newbould, containing an entry by Renée Watson (Bloomsbury YA, 2021)[35]

• Academy of American Poets website - https://poets.org/poet/renee-watson

  Renée Watson
  Renée Watson is a New York Times bestselling author, educator, and community activist. Her young adult novel, Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017) received a Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Honor. Her picture book, Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2012) received several honors including an NAACP Image Award nomination in children’s literature.

  Watson was a writer in residence for over twenty years teaching creative writing and theater in public schools and community centers throughout the nation. She founded I, Too Arts Collective, a nonprofit that was housed in the home of Langston Hughes from 2016-2019. Watson is on the Council of Writers for the National Writing Project and is a member of the Academy of American Poets’ Education Advisory Council. She is also a writer-in-residence at The Solstice Low-Residency Creative Writing Program of Pine Manor College.

• The Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students, The New School website - https://www.newschool.edu/bachelors-program/renee-watson/

  Renée Watson: Award-winning Author and Activist
  Outcomes Renee Watson
  When award-winning author Renée Watson (BA Liberal Arts ’08) decided to return to college, she knew she’d need to find a place that would let her explore and build on all of her many interests. She was a writer and a teacher, an activist, a poet, and the founder of a nonprofit arts organization. She wanted to make a greater impact with her art, and knew finishing her degree would help her do just that.

  “I came to The New School in my late twenties to kind of finish what I started,” Watson said. “I had done some undergrad, but I took a leave from college to take care of my mother when she was ill. In that time, I started a nonprofit organization. I was an adult, and I needed a place that was going to understand that I had life experience and value that experience. I still needed to learn some craft and skill, but I wasn’t coming in as this really young, bright eyed, fresh-out-of-high-school student.”

  When she discovered the Bachelor’s Program for Adults and Transfer Students at The New School, she knew it was the perfect fit. Watson was able to design her own degree, focusing on creative writing, but also take business classes that helped her in the nonprofit sector. She also studied Creative Arts Therapy.

  “With my nonprofit in Portland, I was doing a lot of work in the schools teaching writing as a guest writer, and so many times students would come to me and cry after they read a poem or they shared something really, really personal and emotional,” Watson explained. “I just wanted more training on how to handle these in-school sessions. So that’s what really drew me to The New School. I was able to come and learn more about writing for children and also more about using writing and visual art as therapy for kids.”

  During her time in the Adult Bachelor’s program, Watson had the opportunity to use her studies for good. Over the summer of 2006, she traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana, where she worked with survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

  “I went to work with young people whose parents had died or who had been displaced,” Watson explains. Her first picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen (Random House, 2010), came from that experience. “[People in New Orleans] were grieving and trying to build again. It was the direct education and training that I got at The New School that allowed me to go and work with them. My students wrote poems and drew, and we did a lot of drama therapy. My first book was inspired by those young people, and after it was published, I got to go back and present it to them.”

  Today, Watson is a New York Times bestselling author who has published eight books for children and young adults. Her young adult novel Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017) received a Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Honor from the American Library Association, while her picture book, Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills (Random House Children’s Books, 2012) received an NAACP Image Award nomination in children’s literature. Her latest young adult novel, Watch Us Rise (Bloomsbury, 2019), was co-written with New School MFA in Creative Writing alumna Ellen Hagan and aims to impact young feminists and budding activists across the nation.

  Watson’s dedication to social justice spans beyond writing and art therapy. She’s also a community organizer, activist, and social entrepreneur. As the founder of the i, Too, Arts Collective, a nonprofit organization committed to nurturing voices from underrepresented communities in the creative arts, she brings poetry salons, workshops, and affordable workspace to her Harlem community. Based out of the historic home of poet Langston Hughes, the i, Too Arts Collective provides a space for community members to come together and create their own art while celebrating Hughes’ legacy and Harlem’s rich history.

  During her time at The New School, Watson was given the space and flexibility to explore and grow in each of her passions while receiving the training and the education she needed to continue making an impact on the world.

  “I always knew I wanted to teach, but not only teach. I always knew I wanted to write, but not only write. I wanted to have a nonprofit one day, and at The New School, I was able to put all of that together and create an education that made sense to me,” Watson said. “It was professionalized. It was hands-on and had small class sizes, and I needed that. It was perfect for where I was at in my life in that moment.”

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• The Oregonian - https://www.oregonlive.com/books/2022/09/renee-watson-discusses-beverly-cleary-and-ways-to-share-joy-in-qa.html

  Renée Watson discusses Beverly Cleary and ‘Ways to Share Joy’ in Q&A
  Updated: Sep. 28, 2022, 8:16 a.m.|Published: Sep. 28, 2022, 8:00 a.m.
  2022 Oregon made gift guide A headshot of Renée Watson and the cover of "Ways to Share Joy."
  Portland-raised author Renée Watson published "Ways to Share Joy" on Sept. 27, 2022. It's the third installment in her Ryan Hart series about a fifth-grade girl in Northeast Portland.

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  By Beth Slovic | The Oregonian/OregonLive
  Author Renée Watson blows kisses to the City of Roses in her latest book for middle readers, “Ways to Share Joy.” It’s the third installment in a planned series of four books that chronicle a year in the life of Ryan Hart, a fictional fifth-grade girl at the very real Vernon K-8 School in Northeast Portland, where Watson also grew up.

  Portlanders have several opportunities to view and hear Watson’s art in the coming days. Her poetry flutters near the Oregon Convention Center on 10-foot banners that also feature portraits of Vernon students in the 1980s by Portland photographer Richard Brown. Watson is among the lineup at the 2022 Portland Book Festival on Nov. 5, and she will appear at Powell’s City of Books on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 2 p.m.

  The Oregonian/OregonLive recently spoke with Watson, who also published a picture book this month about poet Maya Angelou called “Maya’s Song,” about her inspiration for the Ryan Hart series. This conversation has been edited for length.

  The Oregonian/OregonLive: You’ve said that each of your books has an “amen moment.” What’s the amen moment in “Ways to Share Joy”?

  Renée Watson: It depends on who the reader is. The “amen moment” is that moment when a reader feels seen and validated, and when they’re like, “Yes, that happens to me, or I know what that feels like, or I can relate.” I don’t know what that will be for each reader, but I do hope that those moments are in the book and that they do resonate with young people. For young people who live in Portland, I’m hoping that they are amening anytime they see a reference to the city.

  You name real places like Vernon and Saturday Market and real people like Portland artist Thelma Johnson Streat in the series. But sometimes you give fictional names to places. How do you choose?

  I am also trying to make sure that our unique experience of what it’s like to live in the Pacific Northwest is documented in stories. I hope that young people from Portland feel seen in that way and then hopefully in some more personal ways, depending on who they are.

  I choose places that are kind of classic and current. There are just some places that I don’t think are going to change or that have been around for a long time.

  The first book in the series came out in April 2020. Did you give any thought to directly mentioning the pandemic in the later books?

  I was writing this book during quarantine, and I knew that I didn’t want to write a book about the pandemic. But I knew that it was affecting our young people and families and that everything was changing. I did want to write a story where young people could see, no matter what the situation is — it could be something as massive as a pandemic, or it could be something smaller that’s devastating in a more personal way — that you can survive those things. You can still find things to be grateful for, even in those hard times.

  Did the racial justice uprisings of 2020 shift how you addressed race in the series?

  No. I have certainly written about race, class and gender and the intersections of all those things. I have written books that critique Portland and talk about gentrification and all of that. I wanted to focus on Black joy and have a story that is about a Black family that isn’t necessarily centered around them struggling about racial justice — just letting them exist on the page without necessarily explicitly having a plot point that is about racism and the things that, obviously, she’s going through because she’s a young Black girl who lives in Portland, Oregon. There’s no way that she’s not bumping up against that. But I also wanted to kind of protect Ryan and show her, and show readers, that she’s also able to be a Black girl and play and have fun and be in the park and all of that.

  The series is an ode to Black joy. It’s also an ode to Beverly Cleary. Tell us about that.

  I grew up reading the Ramona series. I love Beverly Cleary. In those books we get to see this girl who is complicated and sometimes throws tantrums and is also kind and is figuring out how to be a sister, how to be a friend, and being loved by her parents. I wanted to let a little Black girl in the Pacific Northwest have those same kinds of everyday experiences.

  What did Beverly Cleary get wrong in her books? Is that sacrilege? Am I allowed to ask that?

  I wouldn’t say she got anything wrong. I related to Ramona in a lot of ways. We talk about “windows” and “mirrors” in books and wanting books to reflect who you are — and also show you someone else’s world. As a girl growing up in Portland, I completely saw that mirror. Klickitat Street, my aunt lived in that neighborhood. I knew exactly where Ramona lived. I knew the school and the library she was going to. So in those ways, I felt completely seen in my experience, validated. I was not a perfect girl. I didn’t always get the best grades or make the right choices. Like Ramona, I definitely could relate to that part, too. Sometimes I was jealous or insecure. All of those things resonated with me very much.

  So, while Ramona didn’t have Black friends, and Black Portland was not represented, I don’t know that I think that was Beverly Cleary’s responsibility. I wouldn’t say she got anything wrong. And I think what she did was show me that I could write about home. She gave me permission, actually, to tell my story and to put Portland on the page in the way that I knew it.

  How does the series resonate with boys? Are boys in 2022 more open to books with girls as main characters?

  Yes, they absolutely are. You know, I don’t think that it’s that boys have changed. I think educators and librarians and the adults in their lives have changed. I think they would’ve always been reading books about girls if we had given it to them. A good story is a good story.

  Can you tell us about the moment in the book when Ryan asked her grandmother for an Afro like Grandma used to rock?

  I have so many beautiful memories of my mother doing my hair as a kid, and it was a whole process of washing it and braiding it and getting ready for church or for whatever the thing was. It’s such a big part of Black girlhood, getting your hair done by an elder in the family, whether it’s your mom or your grandma or a family friend. It’s such an intimate moment, to have someone’s hands in your scalp and in your hair, and it’s just a time to talk and get to know each other more. It’s a beautiful moment that so many young Black girls experience, and I wanted to have that in each book. In each book of the series there is a Grandma/Ryan moment where she’s getting her hair done.

  Why an Afro?

  In the first book she gets it straightened, and in the second book she gets braids and beads. And then in this book, she gets the Afro. I wanted something that paid homage to Black hairstyles and [to show] that this grandmother used to wear her hair in a way that looks cool to Ryan. Sometimes there’s such a divide, seemingly, between an older generation and the younger generation. And I just wanted this moment where Ryan is like, “Grandma was kind of fly, and I wanna look like that.”

  In one moment in the book, Ryan — whose name means “king” — pledges to learn more about the people who’ve paved the way for her, and then in the next breath, she plots revenge against her older brother. Tell us about that.

  I try to write layered characters. No one is always one way, right? We’re not always our best selves, but we’re not always our worst selves either. Her parents are always telling her, “Be who we named you to be. We want you to be thoughtful and kind and generous and caring.” And that’s hard to do all the time. Sometimes she can rise to that, and then other times it kind of misses the mark. I wanted young people to know that it’s OK. Sometimes, yeah, you are going to be selfish or jealous or competitive, shy, intimidated. That’s OK. You’re going to grow into yourself more and more, but the key is to keep trying to rise and trying to be your best self.

  You thanked former Jefferson High School teacher Linda Christensen in your acknowledgments. What can people who want to support kids and reading — but don’t know Christensen or her magic — learn from her that made such an impact on you?

  Oh, my goodness. I love Linda with a deep, deep love. I felt so seen in her classroom. She would ask you, “How was your weekend?” And then wait to actually listen to your answer. And based on your answer, she might even the next day bring in a poem that has something to do with what you said. She just really brought the world into the classroom. She wasn’t one of those teachers who said, “Leave your personal lives at the door.” Our personal lives — that became the curriculum. That became what we discussed and talked about and learned from. Being in her class was a powerful experience.

• Publishers Weekly - https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/87700-in-conversation-ren-e-watson-and-brendan-kiely.html

  In Conversation: Renée Watson and Brendan Kiely
  Oct 25, 2021
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  Renée Watson’s books for young readers include Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills and Ways to Make Sunshine. Her YA novel Piecing Me Together received a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award. Watson’s new picture book, Born on the Water, co-written with 1619 Project founder Nikole Hannah-Jones, chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States. Brendan Kiely is the author of All American Boys (with Jason Reynolds), Tradition, The Last True Love Story, and more. He’s the recipient of the Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award and the Walter Dean Myers Award, among other accolades. In his new book, The Other Talk: Reckoning with Our White Privilege, Kiely aims to open up a conversation about racism, privilege, and allyship. We asked Watson and Kiely to discuss their latest books, their approaches to writing about race for young readers, and their hopes for how educators and parents can use their work to spark difficult but important dialogues.

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  Renée Watson: Brendan, congratulations on The Other Talk. I remember when you first told me you were thinking about writing it. Back then, you had your reservations and you weren’t quite sure if you would/should do it. As authors, we often have several ideas we are pondering or tinkering with that we put on the back burner either because of timing or lack of inspiration. I’d love to know what pushed you to start writing The Other Talk. Why this book? Why now?

  Brendan Kiely: Thanks, Renée. It’s true. I’d been fiddling with this idea for a few years but just couldn’t find my way in. Many people of the global majority are familiar with the Talk they have with their families, the talk about navigating or, quite frankly, surviving racism in America. But it seemed to me that the Other Talk was one in which white people had to also speak directly about our own racial identity, and therefore racism’s impact on our lives, which would mean talking honestly about the unfair advantages white people so often have in a society so deeply affected by racism—and I felt confused and unsure about how to get that “right,” or if, as a white person, I could even have the perspective it would take to speak about it well. I was still stumbling my way in and out of the book when Jason Reynolds and I did a fundraiser for Black Visions Collective after George Floyd was murdered in the summer of 2020. He and I had been talking for years about how white people’s hesitations and inability to talk about their own racial identity might be one of the enormous obstacles to tackling the problems of systemic racism. We were talking about it again that night when he said, in so many words, “Would you go write that book finally?”

  I dumped everything I’d written so far and just let a draft of the book rip loose from my heart. Instead of trying to be “right,” I just laid bare my own flaws and how they are connected to the broader historical and systemic problems of racism. It was a disaster of a draft, but at least it was honest, so it gave people who were kind enough to read early drafts something to respond to and help me shape into the frank and clear discussion about white privilege I hoped could be a tool for white families to use to talk to each other about their white racial identity and their proximity to the problems of systemic racism.

  Sometimes I wonder if while we are inspired to write about the influences of history on our lives today, the magnitude of that importance can feel daunting, and make the voices of doubt, confusion, or hesitation too loud in our minds. Did you have any of those same kinds of reservations getting started on Born on the Water? And, how did you get involved with the 1619 Project?

  Watson: I was invited to co-write The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Namrata Tripathi, our editor, and Nikole Hannah-Jones. We had an initial meeting about the project and after we all agreed it was a good fit, Nikole and I started working on the manuscript.

  I definitely had reservations when I was first approached. I wanted to make sure I could add something meaningful to Nikole’s brilliant work, and it was daunting to think about how to tell such a big story in a picture book. I think my personal conviction about why this story is important for young readers outweighed any fear or intimidation I had.

  The fear was about getting it right and making sure we showed the humanity and resilience of the enslaved people. ​​I kept thinking about teachers who are looking for tools to use in the classroom to talk about slavery in the United States with young learners and I really wanted to create something for them as well. That was one of the reasons why Nikole and I decided to write Born on the Water in verse. Each poem is its own moment and breaks down this big, heavy story in manageable vignettes. It was our hope to take care of the reader—including caregivers and teachers—gently leading them through a story that ultimately honors the resilience of Black Americans. After each poem the reader can pause and reflect before continuing, and hopefully each verse will answer questions while also provoking more questions.

  In reading The Other Talk, I could feel you striking that balance of truth-telling and gentleness. You lead the reader through history, statistics, and your own personal anecdotes. I think it’s perfect for teen readers because it’s conversational, educational, and challenging all at the same time. What is your hope for young readers and educators reading this book?

  Kiely: That’s just it, isn’t it? While the truth can be difficult, messy, uncomfortable, possibly scary or hard to hear, we can’t dodge it, or pretend it doesn’t exist, nor hide it from our young people. We have to try to find ways to share it so that telling the truth, hearing the truth, learning about the truth can be empowering. That’s why I appreciate so deeply your poetry and your strategy of vignettes for Born on the Water—it’s all about the delivery. That’s what I hoped to achieve in The Other Talk, as well. I wanted to try to empower young people and their families and the educators who come to the book with a language and framework to discuss the history of white privilege and how it impacts life today, and I felt like the most inviting and honest way to begin that conversation was to use stories from my own life and say, “Look, here’s what I didn’t know I didn’t know, and now that I know a little more, I’d like to share all this with you so you don’t make the same mistakes I’ve made, and so you have a tool to help you be a more effective and authentic partner in the pursuit of racial justice in your community.” As a teacher, as a father, and as a writer, I think being honest with young people, letting them see me as someone who makes mistakes, who isn’t an expert, who doesn’t have it all figured out, is a part of the honesty they deserve. By cultivating a space in which I allow myself to be vulnerable with them, I think it creates a space for them to seize opportunities for empowerment.

  I think my role as an educator and a writer for young people is to be the best partner I can for them in helping them shape the world they wish to see. That’s my hope for The Other Talk—that it inspires readers and educators, especially those of us who are white, to want to become more self-aware of privilege, to listen more and learn more, especially to those who have been telling these truths for so long, and to feel motivated to more actively participate in the work many people are already doing to help build a more racially just community.

  I appreciate your question and the word, “hope,” because I often think about hope. I think it’s important to have hope, to look for it, even in the face of truths that are so daunting. I think it’s important to cultivate a language of hope, because when we learn the language of a conversation, we can join it. In order to truly believe in a more racially just future, I think we must participate in the pursuit of it. Did hope play a role in your work in Born on the Water? Or, more generally, does hope play a role in your work as a writer and an educator?

  Watson: Yes, yes! I am the product of hope. The hope of my ancestors who had no logical reason for believing this world could be, would be a better place and yet they prayed and fought for a day to come that many of them didn’t even get to see. I am their answered prayer. I think a lot of people are dismissive of the word “hope.” But to truly have hope is a hard, grueling action. It takes perseverance, patience, resilience and a resolve that even with setbacks, there is always a way that can be made, always a next chapter.

  When it comes to writing hopeful stories, I am careful not to confuse that with writing happy endings. I think there’s a big difference. In all of my stories, I want the reader to know that the main character has the tools they need to keep going, to be able to face any future obstacles that come their way, not that there will be no more obstacles.

  At the beginning of Born on the Water, the main character is longing to know where she comes from. After she learns the history of Black Americans there is a sense of pride and she realizes that her people worked hard and fought for her freedom, that they left her a legacy to continue. This is why the last sentence has no punctuation. Nikole and I deliberately decided not to end the sentence with a period. There is no real ending in the sense of “and they all lived happily ever after.” Instead, the reader understands that the story hasn’t ended for this character, it is just beginning. She has picked up the mantle and wants to be involved in making her world a better place.

  This is why I believe teaching the truth about our history is important. History is a record of hope—proof that time and time again people overcame hardships, fought to change laws, protested injustice, made art in perilous times. I believe our young people need to know that. We need examples of how to hope, of how to stand up for justice.

  And speaking of examples, another thing I love about The Other Talk is that you give practical examples to white readers on how to have uncomfortable conversations about race and privilege and what solidarity with the global majority can look like. I thought we could end our conversation with you sharing a few thoughts about the how. How can white teachers, parents, and caregivers begin this work with their student or child? What does taking action look like in small, practical ways?

  Kiely: “History is a record of hope...” as a reason for telling the story of history truthfully resonates so profoundly. I think it is as true for telling our collective history as it is for telling our personal histories. Part of the how in your question, that I try to address in The Other Talk, is for white people like me to tell our own personal stories more truthfully by including how our racial identity plays a role in our stories. Because how can anyone trust me if I’m not even being honest with them in the first place? Choosing to be more honest is an action.

  But really, before we can join a conversation or partner with anyone in a meaningful way, I think we have to practice being better listeners. Listening is an action, something we can do actively and something we can model for our students and children. And for white people like me, that means choosing to listen without getting defensive, choosing to listen to and believe the stories and truths about racism that people of the global majority have been sharing for so long. This is true in our study of history, too. American history is a pluralistic history. So every child in America should learn about our history—that includes truths told from Indigenous perspectives, the many different Asian-American and Latinx perspectives, and the truths told in the 1619 Project. Choosing to listen to the truths of our history and our present is an action.

  So then, when it’s time to join a conversation more actively, and white folks like me are telling our stories more honestly, we won’t begin with all the excuses about why we didn’t know (I didn’t know about my privilege in these interactions with law enforcement; I didn’t know how privilege has trickled down intergenerationally because of my grandfather’s access to benefits in the GI Bill, etc.) but rather speak about those privileges clearly and acknowledge how they are a part of the social systems that have been so deeply racially unjust.

  Listening more and being honest about our privilege isn’t about feeling bad. They are actions we as white people can take (and talk about with our young folks) so that we can partner with people of the global majority more genuinely, and with more humility and a greater sense of urgency, in the hope for and in the pursuit of (to riff off your words above) a more racially just future.

  Watson: I so appreciate your emphasis on listening being an action. I think young people especially need to know that taking action doesn’t always have to be attending a march or making a speech. We often tell young people they can change the world—and I believe that—but first I believe it’s important to encourage them to change their world. I challenge young people to look right around them in their own families, neighborhoods, schools and think about how to be kind, patient, generous, how to show empathy—how to listen and take in someone else’s story. Nothing about that is easy or small.

  So thank you, Brendan, for being vulnerable and sharing your story with young readers. You have challenged them to do something that is not easy or small and I really do believe your book will impact so many. It’s been so wonderful talking with you. I’m so thankful for our friendship and am excited to see what you do next.

  Kiely: Renée, I’m so deeply thankful for our friendship (and this conversation together!) as well. No matter how solitary the work of writing books might feel, I never feel alone, because I feel like I’m working in tandem with a friend like you, someone who shares such a similar passion and reason for writing for young people. And you’re also a constant inspiration. Whether it’s Piecing Me Together, Love Is a Revolution, Born on the Water, or any of the books in between, your work always glows with the warmth of your heart. You breathe tremendous grace and dignity into your characters and stories—and by extension the world. What greater gift can we strive to give our young people than a language for loving one another?

  The Other Talk: Reckoning with Our White Privilege by Brendan Kiely. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $18.99 Sept. ISBN 978-1-5344-9404-6

  The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, illus. by Nikkolas Smith. Kokila, $18.99 Nov. 16 ISBN 978-0-593-30735-9

  ALSO ON PW

• Publishers Weekly - https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/90396-bloomsbury-partners-with-ren-e-watson-and-indie-bookstores-for-book-donations.html

  Bloomsbury Partners with Renée Watson and Indie Bookstores for Book Donations
  By Iyana Jones | Sep 22, 2022
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  Renée Watson with Ryan Hart standee at Word Up.

  Bloomsbury is teaming up with independent bookstores across the country and author Renée Watson for the new Make Sunshine, Share Joy campaign, an effort to support indie bookstores and young readers in underserved schools.

  The initiative started on September 12 and will run through October 1 in seven independent bookstores. Participating indies will offer store-specific promotions through which copies of Watson’s middle grade book, Ways to Make Sunshine can be purchased and donated to a local school or organization. Each store has selected individual donation partners and a collective goal of donating 1,300 books to underserved schools.

  “It was important for me to share this campaign with indie booksellers because I was confident that they’d know which schools are in need of books,” Watson said. “I trust them to rally their customers and build community through a neighborhood book drive.”

  The collaboration comes ahead of Newbery Honor author Renée Watson’s third book in her Ryan Hart Story series. In Ways to Share Joy, Ryan, an optimistic Black girl, navigates middle school challenges such as classroom bullies and arguments with friends, with kindness and positivity. Ways to Share Joy will be released on September 27.

  Similar to the way that her series protagonist Ryan Hart manages her struggles through kindness, Watson hopes “this campaign offers an opportunity for community members to practice simple, everyday kindness by supporting local bookstores, schools, and nonprofits.”

  Watson will also support the campaign by making appearances at select participating bookstores while on her tour for Ways to Share Joy, which kicks off on September 26.

• Kirkus Reviews - https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/fall-childrens-preview-renee-watson/

  Fall Children’s Preview: Renée Watson
  BY MEGAN LABRISE • AUG. 17, 2022

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  Fall Children’s Preview: Renée Watson
  Renée Watson. Photo by Shawnte Sims
  Fans of Renée Watson’s Ryan Hart series, centering on the life and times of a talented young baker from Portland, Oregon, are in for another treat. Picking up where Ways To Grow Love left off, Ways To Share Joy (Bloomsbury, Sept. 27) sees Ryan navigating new responsibilities, expanding her appreciation of what it means to be a sister and a friend, and baking the cake for an extra-special surprise party. Watson answered some questions over email.

  Kirkus calls Ways To Share Joy “a tale of family and friendship that exudes pure joy.” What’s Ryan up to in the new book?

  Ryan is still cooking, baking, and pulling pranks on her brother. She is adjusting to being the middle child and takes pride in knowing what it is like to be both a big sister and a little sister. She is also navigating friendship and understanding that it’s more important to have a true friend than a best friend.

  Among the lessons Ryan learns in Ways To Share Joy is that joy doesn’t necessarily equate to happiness. How does she come to understand the distinction between the two?

  The lesson about joy being something deeper than happiness comes from Ryan’s grandmother. She explains to Ryan that happiness is based on circumstances, but joy is connected to an inner peace, a lasting contentment. Ultimately, she is learning how even when things don’t go her way and when life gets tough, there is always something to be grateful for.

  Is writing a joyful practice for you?

  Absolutely. Joy is a pillar of my work, and I find a lot of purpose and pleasure in writing. There are times, of course, when the writing is slow or when the business side to publishing is discouraging, but even in those moments, my faith and resolve that this is what I am called to do keeps me grounded, keeps me going.

  Were you a big reader as a kid? Were there any adults who influenced you as a reader or writer?

  I loved reading as a child, and I also loved writing. The more I read, the more I wanted to tell my own stories and be in conversation with the characters in the books I was reading.

  Reading was normalized in my family. I would often see my mother reading her Bible before going to bed, and she didn’t just read it—she highlighted passages, read Scriptures out loud, memorized them. She was my first example of how to engage with a text, how to slow down when reading and ponder the meaning, how to hold words dear to your heart. If you open a book from my bookshelf, you’ll quickly be able to tell which ones I have read over and over again, which ones I love and meditate on—they are the books with notes scribbled in the margins, underlined paragraphs, and sticky notes poking out. I am always so tickled when a parent proudly holds up a book I just signed for their young reader, all pristine and in mint condition. I’m not even going to let them touch it, they tell me. And I get it, I appreciate the intent behind that. But while I believe the act of reading is revolutionary and sacred, the physical book is not. A worn book is often a well-read, loved book.
  What fall release(s) are you most looking forward to reading?

  I’m really excited about On Her Wings by Jerdine Nolen, illustrated by James Ransome, and A Library by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Erin K. Robinson.

  Megan Labrise is the editor at large and host of Kirkus’ Fully Booked podcast.

• All Things Considered, NPR - https://www.npr.org/2022/02/17/1081570896/born-on-the-water-puts-the-1619-project-into-kids-hands

  AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
  'Born on the Water' puts the '1619 Project' into kids' hands
  February 17, 20224:47 PM ET
  Heard on All Things Considered
  JASON FULLER

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  Sarah Handel at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., November 7, 2018. (photo by Allison Shelley)
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  Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson discuss how their book, 1619 Project's Born on the Water, helps young Black children feel affirmed in where they come from.

  MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

  "Born On The Water" puts Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones' "1619 Project" in the hands of young readers. It's a picture book she wrote in collaboration with Renee Watson. The book starts off with a young Black girl receiving a homework assignment where she is asked to trace her roots and draw a flag that represents her ancestral land. At first, the little girl feels ashamed. She doesn't know where her family came from. But her grandmother has answers for her and tells her the story of the Tuckers of Tidewater, Anthony and Isabella, enslaved together on a plantation. They married and had a son named William.

  (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

  NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES: Renee, we had discussions about the line in the poem about the Tuckers of Tidewater, particularly the line about William Tucker being the first American child. And that really came from this idea that we are a people who was born on the water, that we were a people who were forced across the middle passage, many of us speaking different languages or different dialects and coming from different regions of west and central Africa and from different peoples. But in the hull of the slave ship, we have to become a new people. We were severed. We were kind of born in the womb of the ocean.

  (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

  HANNAH-JONES: So when I thought about that, I thought, well, the first Black child born in America, or what would become America, doesn't have any other country. It's gone. That is erased. We are starting a new people here - not losing what we brought in our minds from the continent, of course, but that we are a people who no longer have any other country but here, and that that makes William Tucker the first actual American child because he was a product of this new country that was coming to be in a way that an immigrant from England was not, in a way that native people were not. And so, to me, it's a provocative thought, and I wanted to be intentionally provocative there, but also to give us Black Americans a lineage. I mean, everything that this country tried to do to us through slavery, what they didn't realize is they created the most American people of all.

  RENEE WATSON: I love the idea of a sense of pride in America, too, because I feel Black Americans can be torn with our love for this country and our ownership of it and believing that we built the country and that this is our country. And so something that was powerful to me in that moment and then, of course, at the end, when we have baby girl thinking about all of the people who've come before her, and now she's joining them, and what is she going to do? And seeing her draw the flag, beaming with pride, was just a powerful moment, too, to say to young people - to young Black Americans, you belong here.

  (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

  WATSON: And this is your country, and your people built this country and have fought for it and continue to fight for it. And I thought that that was an important thing to include in this story as well.

  HANNAH-JONES: Absolutely. And especially what we took so much care to do was that, yes, the building was physical, but the building was also intellectual, and the building was also cultural, and the building was about creating a country that has, at least in the law, equality because, so often, as we know, the only contribution that is recognized that Black Americans have offered this country is our labor. And that labor was critical, and that labor was important - but that we offered much, much more than our labor in building this country, that we built the architecture of the culture and the politics and even these ideas of equality. And making that argument, I know for both of us, was very important.

  (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

  WATSON: I respect young people. I don't want to lie to them. I don't want to hide the truth from them. I want to respect how I say things to them. But what I say as far as, like, there's some hardship that has happened in this world, I'm going to always tell the truth and talk about that and just keep their age at the forefront to hopefully do it in an age-appropriate way. But the actual, should we talk about this? - that's an easy yes for me. I needed to talk about it when I was a kid, and I know the young people in my life do, too.

  HANNAH-JONES: One amazing thing about having a young person living with me that I interact with every single day is understanding how early they are grappling with the issues of race and injustice and hurt. I don't remember teaching my child about slavery, but she knew about it before I ever introduced her to a text. I think sometimes we forget our children are getting a framework for the world whether we are intentional about delivering it to them or not. And I believe that we can either force them to unlearn a poor understanding of our history later, or we can give them the proper tools to learn and engage with it at an early age and engage with it in a proper way.

  WATSON: When you are a child and you are trying to get answers to something and someone silences you or you know that, oh, I'm not supposed to talk about this, that teaches you something, and it teaches all children something. So it teaches a Black child and makes you question, well, am I really experiencing what I'm experiencing? On the playground, when that kid made fun of my skin or my hair texture, what was that, and why did that happen?

  But if we can't talk about race or racism, then that child is questioning their actual experience, their lived experience, right? What language will they have to talk about what happened? And likewise, non-Black children are learning what not to talk about and what behavior is OK to do 'cause it never gets checked and there's never a conversation about it. And so I just think it's important to name things and to actually teach young people, this is the world that you have inherited. What do you want this world to be, and how are we going to work towards that world?

  (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

  HANNAH-JONES: We're having these dishonest conversations where children are just unprepared for the reality because we are spending a lot of time on erasure. And these are great conversations to have with children as they're trying to form their concept of self and their concept of the world. But instead, we just - we lie to our children so often, and that leaves them ill-prepared for the world.

  WATSON: I also think that it is talking about the painful things and the tragedy and also saying, you also come from brilliance, the brilliance of Black folks and the talent of Black folks and how that contributed to change. I think that that is an important conversation to have, especially to young people who might be feeling powerless. And teaching them about young activists and artists is a way to help them see themselves as a part of the movement. And that's something that I try to encourage teachers to do all the time.

  So no, I don't want you starting necessarily with slavery on the first day of school. You know, I want you to start with the brilliance of Black folks, too. In the curriculum, there should be a balance of books that talk about us as regular folks living our everyday lives and also the history and the biographies. All of those stories are important.

  KELLY: That was Renee Watson and Nikole Hannah-Jones. Their book is "The 1619 Project: Born On The Water."

• Variety - https://variety.com/2020/film/news/renee-watsons-piecing-me-together-novel-lands-film-adaptation-at-warner-horizon-exclusive-1234740857/

  Renée Watson’s ‘Piecing Me Together’ Novel Lands Film Adaptation at Warner Horizon (EXCLUSIVE)

  By Angelique Jackson

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  Renee Watson Piecing Me Together
  Courtesy of Renee Watson

  Author Renée Watson’s award-winning book “Piecing Me Together” has been optioned for a film adaptation.

  Variety has learned that Warner Horizon is set to adapt the New York Times-bestselling novel. Watson will serve as a consultant on the project, which is in the early stages of development.

  “Piecing Me Together” centers on Jade, a 16-year-old Black girl who attends a mostly white private school on a scholarship. The young adult novel — which explores themes of race, privilege, friendships, identity and other issues facing young women — follows Jade as she strives to escape her low-income neighborhood and achieve success.

  The novel was published in 2017 by Bloomsbury Children’s Books, debuting in the top 10 on the New York Times Young Adult Hardcover list. The following year, the novel was awarded the John Newbery honor, and Watson received the Coretta Scott King Author Award.

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  Watson’s other work, which often spotlights the stories of Black women, includes YA novels “This Side of Home” and “Watch Us Rise.” Watson also wrote the picture books “A Place Where Hurricanes Happen” and “Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills,” which earned the author an NAACP Image Award nomination for children’s literature.

  Waston also created the one-woman show, “Roses are Red Women are Blue,” which debuted at New York City’s Lincoln Center as part of a showcase for emerging artists. Watson’s most recent book, “Ways to Make Sunshine,” the first novel of the “Ryan Hart” series, was published in April.

  Watson is represented by UTA and Rosemary Stimola of Stimola Literary Studio.

Ways to Grow Love. By Renee Watson. Illus. by Nina Mata. Apr. 2021. 208p. Bloomsbury, $16.99 (9781547600588). Gr. 3-6.

Ryan Hart returns in this charming sequel to Ways to Make Sunshine (2020), which begins the summer before she starts fifth grade. Many of her favorite summer activities, like going to the library with her mother and riding rides at the amusement park as a family, are on hold, or at least modified, because Mrs. Hart is pregnant and on bed rest. On the upside, Ryan is finally old enough to attend overnight church camp with her brother and best friends, Kiki and Amanda, though Ryan is not pleased to learn that Amanda's mean friend Red will be sharing their cabin. Prank wars and team-building exercises unfold alongside bible study, positively portraying the important role faith communities hold in many children's lives. Ryan feels young for a fifth grader, due largely to the fact that she's the baby of her family--for most of the story anyway. She nonetheless flexes her independence by cooking for her family and helping to prepare for the new baby's arrival. Ryan's grandmother also lends them a hand, and one particularly tender scene shows Ryan asking for advice as her grandmother braids her hair before bed. These realistic snapshots of love in action are peppered with funny mishaps and small mistakes, all of which add up to an uplifting, reassuring read. --Julia Smith

HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Ways to Make Sunshine was released to great acclaim, and Watson's virtual author tour will act like Miracle-Gro on her sizeable fan base.

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 American Library Association
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Smith, Julia. "Ways to Grow Love." Booklist, vol. 117, no. 12, 15 Feb. 2021, p. 59. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A654650010/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b0b58716. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022.

Watson, Renée WAYS TO GROW LOVE Bloomsbury (Children's None) $16.99 4, 27 ISBN: 978-1-5476-0058-8

A new baby coming means Ryan has lots of opportunities to grow love.

Ryan has so much to look forward to this summer—she is going to be a big sister, and she finally gets to go to church camp! But new adventures bring challenges, too. Ryan feels like the baby is taking forever to arrive, and with Mom on bed rest, she isn’t able to participate in the family’s typical summer activities. Ryan’s Dad is still working the late shift, which means he gets home and goes to bed when she and her older brother, Ray, are waking up, so their quality daddy-daughter time is limited to one day a week. When the time for camp finally arrives, Ryan is so worried about bugs, ghosts, and sharing a cabin that she wonders if she should go at all. Watson’s heroine is smart and courageous, bringing her optimistic attitude to any challenge she faces. Hard topics like family finances and complex relationships with friends are discussed in an age-appropriate way. Watson continues to excel at crafting a sense of place; she transports readers to Portland, Oregon, with an attention to detail that can only come from someone who has loved that city. Ryan, her family, and friends are Black, and occasional illustrations by Mata spotlight their joy and make this book shine.

The second installment in this spirited series is a hit. (Fiction. 8-10)

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"Watson, Renee: WAYS TO GROW LOVE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A656696472/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=356d718b. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022.

Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson, tikis, by Nikkolas Smith. Kokila, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-593-30735-9

When a Black child, this story's narrator, feels shame surrounding a family tree assignment ("I can only count back three generations, here, in this country"), their parents and grandparents offer what an author's note calls "a proud origin story." In meticulous, forthright poems by Newbery Honoree Watson and 1619 Project founder Hannah-Jones, the family reaches back to the Kingdom of Ndongo, where their ancestors "had a home, a place, a land,/ a beginning." Subsequent spreads describe the child's West Central African forbears, who spoke Kimbundu ("had their own words/ for love/ for friend/ for family"), were good with their hands and minds, excelled at math and science, "and they danced." When the lines recount how, in 1619, those ancestors were shackled and ferried across the Atlantic to Virginia on the White Lion, the authors clearly but non-graphically confront the horror of chattel slavery, emphasizing the resilience of the enslaved people who survived this impossible journey. Alternating between realistic and surreal images, Smith (World Cup Women) works in a saturated palette to create emotionally evocative scenes: dark, mostly monochrome tableaus convey tragedy or violence; brightly lit, multicolor palettes illustrate scenes of peace and joy. While detailing the specifics of an often-obscured history and its effects, this volume powerfully emphasizes that Black history is not merely a story of slavery and suffering but one of perseverance and hope. Ages 7-10. (Nov.)

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"The 1619 Project: Born on the Water." Publishers Weekly, vol. 268, no. 41, 11 Oct. 2021, p. 72. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A679527120/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ecad5a92. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022.

The 1619 Project: Born on the Water. By Nikole Hannah Jones and Renee Watson. Illus. by Nikkolas Smith. Nov. 2021. 48p. Penguin/Kokila, $18.99 (9780593307359). Gr. 1-4.

A young, unnamed Black girl is ashamed that she can't complete a school genealogy project because she can only trace her family history back three generations. When she shares her problem with her grandmother, the woman calls the whole family together and tells them the story of their history, beginning hundreds of years earlier in the West-Central African kingdom of Ndongo, where their ancestors lived an idyllic life, described in the coauthors' heartfelt poems and captured in apposite, full-color representational pictures. The story takes a dark turn when the Portuguese arrive, kidnap Ndongo's people, and put them, chained, in the hold of the White Lion to transport them to Virginia, where they are enslaved. The coauthors bring necessary expertise to this important story and celebrate the resilient spirit that informed these individuals' lives. Hannah-Jones, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, conceived The New York Times Magazines 1619 Project, while Watson is a Newbery Honor Book author. Together, they capture essential facets of and variety within Black experiences in America. --Michael Cart

HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The relevancy of the topic and clout of The New York Times will put this powerhouse title on everyone's radar.

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 American Library Association
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Cart, Michael. "The 1619 Project: Born on the Water." Booklist, vol. 118, no. 4, 15 Oct. 2021, p. 52. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A696452052/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=08184ae1. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022.

Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson, illus. by Nikkolas Smith. Kokila, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-593-30735-9

When a Black child, this story's narrator, feels shame surrounding a family tree assignment ("I can only count back three generations, here, in this country"), their parents and grandparents offer what an author's note calls "a proud origin story." In meticulous, forthright poems by Newbery Honoree Watson and 1619 Project founder Hannah-Jones, the family reaches back to the Kingdom of Ndongo, where their ancestors "had a home, a place, a land,/ a beginning." Subsequent spreads describe the child's West Central African forbears, who spoke Kimbundu ("had their own words/ for love/ for friend/ for family"), were good with their hands and minds, excelled at math and science, "and they danced." When the lines recount how, in 1619, those ancestors were shackled and ferried across the Atlantic to Virginia on the White Lion, the authors clearly but non-graphically confront the horror of chattel slavery, emphasizing the resilience of the enslaved people who survived this impossible journey. Alternating between realistic and surreal images, Smith {World Cup Women) works in a saturated palette to create emotionally evocative scenes: dark, mostly monochrome tableaus convey tragedy or violence; brightly lit, multicolor palettes illustrate scenes of peace and joy. While detailing the specifics of an often-obscured history and its effects, this volume powerfully emphasizes that Black history is not merely a story of slavery and suffering but one of perseverance and hope. Ages 7-10:

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"The 1619 Project: Born on the Water." Publishers Weekly, vol. 268, no. 48, 24 Nov. 2021, p. 7. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A686559476/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d61b91d4. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022.

Maya's Song

Renee Watson, illus. by Bryan Collier. HarperCollins, $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-06-287158-9

In allusive biographical poems that focus on their subject's developing voice, Watson recounts the life of activist and author Maya Angelou (1928-2014), beginning with her St. Louis birth as Marguerite Annie Johnson and ending with her reading at Bill Clinton's 1993 presidential inauguration. Evocative lines detail Angelou's time living across the U.S. and Ghana, her five years of silence following the childhood assault that "hurt her body, hurt her soul," and the gradual development of her voice and love for poetry ("Once you start speaking again,/ain't nobody gonna be able to shut you up," her Momma Annie says). Collier's richly textured assemblage of collage and watercolor employs light, pattern, and subtle imagery that add depth to every image as Angelou is shown maturing into an adult, working alongside peers in the struggle for freedom (including "Brother Jimmy, Brother Martin"), and writing toward the publication of/ Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Concluding with a close-up image of Angelou and an affirmation ("She alone was enough"), this is a thoughtfully rendered biography of a dazzling figure. A biographical timeline and creators' notes conclude. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

On Her Wings: The Story of Toni Morrison

Jerdine Nolen, illus. by James E. Ransome. S&S/Wiseman, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-5344-7852-7

"Long before Chloe became a writer or a reader, she was a listener." Nolen chronicles the life and career of Toni Morrison (1931-2019), from her birth in Lorain, Ohio, as Chloe Ardelia Wofford to her 1993 acceptance of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Reportorial prose foregrounds the figure's family life and interests, describing Morrison's upbringing on a steady diet of music, mythology, scripture, and supernatural tales--influences that led to academia and an editorial career before she published The Bluest Eye, her first novel, at age 39. Describing Morrison's work as sharing "the untold stories that needed to be told" about "the history and pain of black life in the United States," Nolen wtites, "Her story words were so mighty,/ mighty enough to lift that old blanket of oppression/ and pull against each thread until that blanket just unraveled." Realistic watercolor and collage portraiture by Ransome depicts Morrison at various ages alongside relatives and figures past and present. It's an elucidative homage that ends with a call to action, inviting readers to tell their own stories. Extensive back matter includes an author's note, recommended reading and viewing, and "important quotes." Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

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"MAYA AND TONI Artful picture book biographies highlight two Black literary luminaries." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 36, 29 Aug. 2022, p. 103. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A716641331/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=131d14e0. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022.

Maya's Song. By Renee Watson. Illus. by Bryan Collier. Sept. 2022.48p. Harper, $19.99 (9780062871589). Gr. 2-5. 920.

Eloquent free-verse poems recall pivotal events in the life of Maya Angelou: from a crying baby to tall tales told at her grandmother's store to books borrowed from the white school; from sexual assault at age seven (referenced as "her mother's boyfriend / hurt her body, hurt her soul") to her five years of silence to her recovery through poetry. Angelou, for whom words and voice held powerful meaning, forged a lifelong career as a singer, poet, and author in Harlem, Ghana, and around the world. Coretta Scott King Award winner and Newbery Honor Book author Watson emphasizes how Angelou used her talents for civil rights and social justice to lift up others and, ultimately, herself. In Collier's signature collage artwork, color, patterns, and imagery also carry meaning and allude to Angelou's memoirs. Layered illustrations reinforce the weight of words--and their absence. Perhaps the most evocative image is a large depiction of young Maya's face, cast in blue and spanning two double-page spreads. Despite the symbolic bars that cage her, in her mind rests a bird waiting to take flight, and her mouth is a bloom waiting to open. A concluding time line sums up many of the highlighted events. This exquisite tribute to one of America's most influential poets arrives just in time for young people to celebrate Angelou's appearance on the quarter. --Angela Leeper

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Leeper, Angela. "Maya's Song." Booklist, vol. 118, no. 19-20, 1 June 2022, pp. 67+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A708840720/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=262d083f. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022.

Watson, Renée OPRAH WINFREY Philomel (Children's None) $14.99 12, 21 ISBN: 978-0-593-11598-5

In this series of chapter-book biographies, the common theme is persistence, and that word certainly applies to Oprah Winfrey.

Born to a single mother in Kosciusko, Mississippi, during the Jim Crow era, Oprah was raised by her grandparents on their farm. Once she started school, it was obvious she was bright. However, Oprah's life was unsettled, as she moved to Wisconsin to join her mother, then two years later to Tennessee to live with her father. Her father was strict about school and church attendance, two areas that gave Oprah opportunities to excel. Her love of reading was noticed, and she was recommended for the Upward Bound program and a rigorous high school. Nevertheless, she struggled with her behavior. During those tumultuous years, Oprah discovered the writings of poet Maya Angelou, and they helped her settle in to schoolwork and speech tournaments. That led to her getting an after-school job at a radio station, then a TV station during college. A move to a Baltimore station led to her success in the interview format and ultimately The Oprah Winfrey Showand international fame. This is a lively introduction to the life of a woman who beat many odds to become successful. Award-winning author Watson describes Oprah's triumphs as well as her difficulties, including sexual abuse, in age-appropriate prose. Young readers who know only the accomplished philanthropist will take inspiration from knowing of her beginnings. Flint's black-and-white illustrations enhance the text.

A highly recommended addition to this stellar series. (suggested activities, acknowledgments, references) (Biography. 6-9)

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"Watson, Renee: OPRAH WINFREY." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A678748372/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9fab403b. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022.

Watson, Renée MAYA'S SONG Harper/HarperCollins (Children's None) $19.99 9, 20 ISBN: 978-0-06-287158-9

A loving tribute in free verse to a writer who found her home, and herself, in her words.

"Once you start speaking again, / ain't nobody gonna be able to shut you up." Filling out a biographical framework that begins in 1928 with the birth of Marguerite Annie Johnson into a loving family and ends in 1993 with her reading at President Bill Clinton's first inauguration, Watson chronicles poet Maya Angelou's travels from St. Louis to California, Ghana to Harlem and links with friends like "Jimmy" Baldwin, as well as the way she gathered "word-seeds" even through the years of silence after "her mother's boyfriend / hurt her body, hurt her soul." In his painted collages, Collier alludes to that silence with a broad, striped ribbon across closed lips in the course of portraying his subject with the same look of dignified reserve throughout her growth from infancy to adulthood. Using a slowly brightening palette, he surrounds her throughout with similarly brown faces until closing with a final bright, smiling solo close-up: "No holding her head down, no hiding. No more silence. / She didn't have the pitch-perfect voice others had, / but she had her songs, her stories." In their notes, Watson and Collier both speak to the inspirational power of Angelou's persistence and courage. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A soaring portrait of a "Black girl whose voice / chased away darkness, ushered in light." (timeline) (Picture-book biography. 7-10)

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"Watson, Renee: MAYA'S SONG." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A711906618/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=44b37449. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022.

Watson, Renée WAYS TO SHARE JOY Bloomsbury (Children's None) $16.99 9, 27 ISBN: 978-1-5476-0909-3

More adventures in the life of Ryan Hart.

Ryan is in the middle, "stuck" between her baby sister, Rose, who needs her help, and her older brother, Ray, who has more freedom and enjoys telling her what to do. Sometimes being in the middle gets hard, like when she's not so sure about the family's plan to surprise Grandma, who says she just wants to rest, with a birthday party or when she grapples with the difficulties of having two best friends. But with the help of her loving family and time spent on her favorite things, like baking, Ryan manages her child-sized troubles, including being teased about her name and for wearing clearance-sale shoes to school, trading pranks with her brother, and maintaining friendships with care. Inspired by her wise Grandma, she learns life lessons along the way, such as the difference between a "true friend" and a "best friend" and how a person can be full of joy even when they aren't happy ("Joy is something deep, deep down"). Ryan's African American family has fallen on somewhat hard times, but they find ways to share what they have. Watson immerses readers in the world of a girl on the cusp of middle school. Her book features a lovely cast of characters, delightfully relatable dilemmas and solutions, and a character with an authentic voice.

A tale of family and friendship that exudes pure joy. (Realistic fiction. 7-12)

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"Watson, Renee: WAYS TO SHARE JOY." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A711906512/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=fd48f4ce. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022.

Smith, Julia. "Ways to Grow Love." Booklist, vol. 117, no. 12, 15 Feb. 2021, p. 59. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A654650010/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b0b58716. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022. "Watson, Renee: WAYS TO GROW LOVE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A656696472/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=356d718b. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022. "The 1619 Project: Born on the Water." Publishers Weekly, vol. 268, no. 41, 11 Oct. 2021, p. 72. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A679527120/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ecad5a92. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022. Cart, Michael. "The 1619 Project: Born on the Water." Booklist, vol. 118, no. 4, 15 Oct. 2021, p. 52. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A696452052/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=08184ae1. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022. "The 1619 Project: Born on the Water." Publishers Weekly, vol. 268, no. 48, 24 Nov. 2021, p. 7. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A686559476/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d61b91d4. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022. "MAYA AND TONI Artful picture book biographies highlight two Black literary luminaries." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 36, 29 Aug. 2022, p. 103. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A716641331/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=131d14e0. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022. Leeper, Angela. "Maya's Song." Booklist, vol. 118, no. 19-20, 1 June 2022, pp. 67+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A708840720/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=262d083f. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022. "Watson, Renee: OPRAH WINFREY." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A678748372/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9fab403b. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022. "Watson, Renee: MAYA'S SONG." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A711906618/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=44b37449. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022. "Watson, Renee: WAYS TO SHARE JOY." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A711906512/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=fd48f4ce. Accessed 20 Dec. 2022.

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