Shelf Awareness praises ALL THE BLUES IN THE SKY by Renée Watson in starred review: “a deeply affecting window into healing that skillfully manages to be both heartbreaking yet full of hope”

Coretta Scott King Award winner and Newbery Award honoree Renée Watson (Piecing Me Together) uses poetry and lyrical prose to sculpt All the Blues in the Sky, a deeply affecting window into healing that skillfully manages to be both heartbreaking yet full of hope.

A month ago, on 13-year-old Sage's birthday, her best friend was killed by a drunk driver. Since then, Sage struggles to understand why "sometimes no one sees death coming," especially when it suddenly and senselessly comes for a best friend as "mangled metal wrapped around/ a street sign." Grief group at school provides a safe space. There, Sage meets Ebony, who helps her understand that when life feels like an ocean, "there is something/ to hold on to/ to keep you afloat." But healing is slow and difficult, and Sage is constantly reminded of everything her best friend will never get to do. Luckily Sage is surrounded by fellow grief group members, wise and loving adults, and even a neighborhood boy to crush on, as she begins to slowly make her way toward acceptance and healing even through horrific and ongoing loss.

All the Blues in the Sky is an intimate, intense portrayal of grief as well as the uncertainty and promise of tomorrow. Watson's hybrid style skillfully makes use of poetry and lyrical prose to crack open the heart of her protagonist, while grounding Sage in a realistic middle school experience. The author sure-handedly balances intense, engulfing sadness with moments of love and beauty, and shows how life, and death, carry on, with every person affected differently.

--Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author

Discover: Using poetry and lyrical prose, All the Blues in the Sky is an achingly beautiful deep dive into grief, healing, and the uncertainty and promise of tomorrow.