skin & bones

Renée Watson

Hachette

A Place Where Hurricanes Happen

Natural and man-made disasters are becoming more commonplace in children's lives, and this touching free-verse picture book provides a straightforward account of Hurricane Katrina. In alternating voices, four friends describe their lives before, during, and after the storm and how, even though the world can change in a heartbeat, people define the character of their community and offer one another comfort and hope even in the darkest hours. Adrienne, Keesha, Michael, and Tommy have been friends for forever. They live on the same street—a street in New Orleans where everyone knows everybody. They play together all day long, every chance they get. It's always been that way. But then people start talking about a storm headed straight for New Orleans. The kids must part ways, since each family deals with Hurricane Katrina in a different manner. And suddenly everything that felt like home is gone. Renée Watson's lyrical free verse is perfectly matched in Shadra Strickland's vivid mixed media art. Together they celebrate the spirit and resiliency of New Orleans, especially its children.

Children's Books

Literature & Fiction

Random House Books for Young Readers

Harlem's Little Blackbird

Identical twins Nikki and Maya have been on the same page for everything-friends, school, boys and starting off their adult lives at a historically African-American college. But as their neighborhood goes from rough-and-tumble to up-and-coming, suddenly filled with pretty coffee shops and boutiques, Nikki is thrilled while Maya feels like their home is slipping away. Suddenly, the sisters who had always shared everything must confront their dissenting feelings on the importance of their ethnic and cultural identities and, in the process, learn to separate themselves from the long shadow of their identity as twins. In her inspired YA debut, Renee Watson explores the experience of young African-American women navigating the traditions and expectations of their culture.

This side of home.

Scholastic. Inc.

She Persisted: Oprah Winfrey

Chelsea Clinton

Penguin US

Black Girl You Are Atlas

Rhythm and Resistance offers practical lessons about how to teach poetry to build community, understand literature and history, talk back to injustice, and construct stronger literacy skills across content areas and grade levels from elementary school to graduate school. Rhythm and Resistance reclaims poetry as a necessary part of a larger vision of what it means to teach for justice.

Rhythm and Resistance: Teaching Poetry for Social Justice

Education & Teaching

Linda Christensen

Patricia Smith

Bob Peterson

Dyan Watson

Kelly Norman Ellis

Elizabeth Schlessman-Barbian

Katharine Johnson

Shwayla James

Heidi Tolentino

Willie Perdomo

Kelly J. Gomes

Tom McKenna

Schools & Teaching

Rethinking Schools

Rethinking Popular Culture and Media begins from the premise that the popular is political. Whether it s Disney and Barbie, or Snapchat and Vine, youth navigate, shape, and repurpose popular culture. This updated collection of teaching articles and critical commentary is written by and for educators. The authors consider the role in students lives of films, music, and books, as well as popular culture artifacts like toys, and how these materials teach children. In each article, authors critique and rethink the connections among race, class, gender, sexuality, power, and schooling. The second edition includes revised articles, nine new articles, and an updated list of resources. Chapters are organized into four major themes to make the text more streamlined: Part 1: Commercialism, Corporations, and Youth Part 2: Politics, Violence, and Sanitized History Part 3: Texts, Toys, and Representation Part 4: Teaching, Talking Back, and Taking Action

Rethinking Popular Culture and Media Second Edition

Politics & Social Sciences

Ann Pelo

HERBERT KOHL

Grace Cornell Gonzales

Elizabeth Marshall

Özlem Sensoy

Rachel Cloues

Margot Pepper

Sudie Hofman

Social Sciences

A girl strives for success in a world that feels too often like it wants to break her, Renee Watson once again delivers a thoughtful and relevant novel that explores issues of race, privilege, and relationships.

Piecing Me Together

Some Places More Than Others

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Books by Renée Watson