ALL THE BLUES IN THE SKY, by Renée Watson, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, Feb. 4, 2025, Hardcover, $17.99 (ages 10 and up)
Renée Watson explores friendship, loss, and life with grief in All the Blues in the Sky, a new novel for upper middle-grade readers.
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. —Synopsis provided by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Novels-in-verse — when done well — have the ability to convey emotion with few words and great impact. And in All the Blues in the Sky Newberry Honor author Renée Watson does exactly that. Her prose is warm and heartfelt while remaining realistic and, at times, raw. Watson’s text allows room to sit with emotions and ponder beyond the novel — and she does it in less than 200 pages.
All the Blues in the Sky is a story of loss and survival. Watson wants readers to feel free to “feel real emotions, to admit when life is hard.” Watson continues in her author’s note, “I hope this book reminds every reader that in the midst of sadness and grief, there can be joy and happiness.
All the Blues in the Sky is an accessible read that will resonate with any reader who has experienced loss, and will help readers who haven’t understand what their classmates, friends or family might be going through.
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