Overview
Winner of the Newbery Medal 2026 New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Medal winner Renée Watson explores friendship, loss and life with grief in this poignant novel told in verse and vignettes. 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. 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. In accessible, engaging verse and prose, this is a story of a girl's journey to heal, grow, and forgive herself. To read it is to see how many shades there are in grief, and to know that someone understands.
Full Product Details
Author: Renée Watson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint: Bloomsbury Childrens Books
Dimensions:
Width: 12.60cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 19.60cm
Weight: 0.140kg
ISBN: 9781037210396
ISBN 10: 1037210395
Pages: 192
Publication Date: 09 April 2026
Recommended Age: From 9 to 12 years
Audience:
Children/juvenile
,
Children / Juvenile
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Availability: Not yet available
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.
Reviews
If you're looking for a story that offers hope in the midst of grief and shines a light on the road back to joy, look no further. All the Blues in the Sky is a gift * Nikki Grimes, bestselling and award-winning author of GARVEY IN THE DARK and A WALK IN THE WOODS * Brief yet poignant vignettes drive home the immediacy of grief as well as the importance of remaining attune to one's emotions in this tender and heartbreaking interpretation of loss * Publishers Weekly * Watson has crafted an achingly beautiful novel that masterfully captures the realities of loss. A heartfelt portrait of the complexities of grief and the indomitable human spirit * Kirkus Reviews, starred review *
Author Information
Renée Watson is a number one New York Times bestselling author. Her novel All the Blues in the Sky won the Newbery Medal in 2026, and Piecing Me Together received a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award. Her books include the Ryan Hart series, Some Places More Than Others, This Side of Home, What Momma Left Me, Watch Us Rise, cowritten with Ellen Hagan, and Love Is a Revolution. Renée splits her time between Portland, Oregon and New York City. www.reneewatson.net @reneewauthor
