Renée Watson
Renée Watson is the Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Award-winning author of the novels Piecing Me Together, This Side of Home, What Momma Left Me, Betty Before X, co-written with Ilyasah Shabazz, and two picture books: Harlem's Little Blackbird and A Place Where Hurricanes Happen. Renée is the founder of I, Too Arts Collective, a non-profit committed to nurturing underrepresented voices in the creative arts. She lives in New York City.
Books
Love is a Revolution
Author: Renée Watson
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Interest age: 12-14
Reading age: 12+
When Nala falls for activist Tye, she makes up a story about herself to try to impress him - but will she ever learn to tell the truth and love who she really is?
Some Places More Than Others
Author: Renée Watson
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Interest age: 9-12
Reading age: 9+
Amara desperately wants a trip to New York for her birthday, to meet her dad’s family and see where he grew up and she can’t understand why her parents are reticent about the trip. Until she discovers her dad hasn’t spoken to his dad, Grandpa Earl, for twelve years – not since the day she was born. What could make them so mad at each other?
For Amara, this m…
Watch Us Rise
Author: Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Interest age: 13-16
Reading age: 10+
Jasmine and her friends are fed up with casual discrimination and being pigeonholed as stereotypes. So they start a school blog addressing contemporary social and personal issues of sexism, racism and other forms of prejudice. A timely teen novel.
What Momma Left Me
Author: Renée Watson
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Interest age: 12-16
Reading age: 10+
Moving to a new school, making new friends and having your first boyfriend – these are all challenging things. But for Serenity, who is struggling with having lost her family in tragic circumstances, they are tougher challenges than they are for most people.