Author Renée Watson on winning the Newbery Medal for her children's book "All the Blues In the Sky"
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Club Calvi congratulated author Renée Watson for being awarded one of the highest honors in children's books for her 2025 novel "All the Blues in the Sky." It's about about a 13-year-old Harlem girl named Sage, whose best friend dies in a hit-and-run crash on Sage's birthday.
Watson, who lives in Harlem, says she learned she won the Newbery Award for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children in a phone call from the American Library Association's Newbery committee.
"It was beautiful and overwhelming," Watson told Mary Calvi. "I got the call from the whole committee. Seventeen people are on a speaker phone. They are in the same room. When you pick up, they are all cheering for you. It was a beautiful moment to get that call. I feel very honored and motivated to do the next thing, and make sure I continue to put out work for young people that is resonating with them.
Mary asked Watson how she handled writing a young character who is dealing with a traumatic situation.
"I always describe Sage as a 13-year-old who wants to be a pilot, she's having her first crush, and she's grieving." Watson explained. "She's lost her best friend. I really wanted a character that is grappling with what it means to hold on to these big dreams you have, show up for school everyday, and be going through something really hard. And how can we help our young people cope with change, and loss, and sadness, while still encouraging them to find joy and be their best selves."
Mary noted that there's a part in the book where Sage repeatedly writes her best friend's name.
"I think sometimes when your grieving, and it's not only because of death but also when you move or life changes in a big way, you feel like you can't mention it anymore. You can't talk about it. Our culture is not good about bringing up the grief or the sadness. In that moment Sage learns, I can hold on to her. I can honor her. I can remember her. I can think about all the good things and share those stories. So she's learning how to live with grief, not get over it. Not push it down. To let it be present in her everyday."
Watson was inspired to write "All the Blues in the Sky" after the deaths of her mother and beloved friends. Watson says there's a moment in the book when Sage learns that grief is like hunger.
"You will be hungry," Watson said. "We ate breakfast this morning. We are going to need to eat dinner tonight. Three weeks from now we are going to have to eat. So grief is not something that leaves you. You will have it always. As I was learning that, and grappling with that, I wanted to be in conversation with young people about how I've experienced grief. The sudden loss, and the loss you are prepared for. And how I can make my mom proud everyday by showing up, living, and being the daughter she raised me to be."
Watson says young readers have been sharing their stories with her after reading "All the Blues in the Sky."
"Our young people are human so they have the same emotions we have," Watson told Mary. "They may be just not able to articulate them. They are telling me about losing people who have died. Losing neighborhoods because of gentrification, though they don't know that word. But they miss the bodega that was down the street and that's now a fancy coffee shop. Or older siblings who have gone to college. Missing teachers they no longer have because they are in a different school or different grade. I've been collecting these stories from all over the nation who are honoring the people and places that they love through poetry."
Watson's next book will be published this fall. "Everything New Again," a young adult novel, will be released in October.
"It's a love story about two teens figuring out how to rise in love, not fall in love," Watson told Mary.
You can read an excerpt from "All the Blues in the Sky," and get the book below.
The CBS New York Book Club focuses on books connected to the Tri-State Area in their plots and/or authors. The books may contain adult themes.
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"All the Blues in the Sky" by Renée Watson
From the publisher: Sage's thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn't predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life-and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all.
Renée Watson lives in Harlem
"All the Blues in the Sky" by Renée Watson (ThriftBooks) $15
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Excerpt: "All the Blues in the Sky" by Renée Watson