Renée Watson (author) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Renée Watson
Born	(1978-07-29) July 29, 1978 (age 47) Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Writer and Teacher
Genre	Young Adult, Picture Books, Middle Grade
Years active	2010–present
Notable works	Piecing Me Together (2017) The 1619 Project: Born on the Water (2021) Love Is a Revolution (2022)
Notable awards	Coretta Scott King Award (2018) Josette Frank Award (2018) Newbery Honor (2018)

Renée Watson (born July 29, 1978) is an American author who writes books for children and young adults. She is also a teaching artist, which means she teaches creative arts. Renée is famous for her award-winning and best-selling young adult novel, Piecing Me Together. This book earned her several big awards, including the John Newbery Honor and the Coretta Scott King Author Award. She also started a group called I, Too, Arts Collective. This group offers creative arts programs to the community in Harlem, New York.

Renée Watson's Early Life

Renée Watson was born in Paterson, New Jersey. She grew up in Portland, Oregon, after her parents separated. Her mother's family came from West Virginia. Renée went to Vernon Elementary School, Binnsmead Middle School, and Jefferson High School in Portland.

Discovering a Love for Writing

From a young age, Renée loved poetry. She read poems by famous writers like Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes. When she first read Hughes's poems in elementary school, she felt a strong connection. She saw herself, her family, and her neighbors reflected in his words. Another important book for her was Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street.

Renée knew early on that she wanted to write. Her teachers and family always encouraged her. In middle school, she even wrote her first play, which her school performed. She also thought about becoming a lawyer for a while.

Mentoring and Teaching

In high school, Renée took part in a mentorship program. She has since returned to her old high school to mentor other students. As a senior, she helped teach poetry to younger students. Renée calls herself a "teaching artist." She spent 20 years teaching poetry and theater before she became a novelist.

In 2005, she moved to New York City. There, she studied creative writing and art therapy at The New School. While she was still in school, she published her first book.

Renée Watson's Career

Renée Watson has been a published writer for over 15 years. She started writing when she was in second grade, creating a 21-page story.

Teaching and Workshops

Renée has spent more than 20 years teaching art across the country. She has worked with different groups to lead workshops. She has also been an artist-in-residence at various schools. She taught poetry, writing, and theater classes all over the United States. For example, she taught poetry at DreamYard, a group in the Bronx that helps young people learn.

Renée has also led workshops to help children deal with difficult experiences. She has helped kids through poetry and theater. She also ran workshops for teachers and adult artists.

Writing Books and Poems

Renée's first children's book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, came out on June 22, 2010. She wrote it after working with children in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Her second picture book, Harlem's Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills, was published on October 23, 2012. This book won several awards.

Her young adult novels include This Side of Home (2015), Piecing Me Together (2017), and Watch Us Rise (2019). Renée's poem, "Black Like Me," was published by Rethinking Schools. Her poetry also appears in other collections. Her middle-grade novel, Ways to Make Sunshine, was published on April 28, 2020. Renée uses her role as an author to talk about the importance of seeking counseling and therapy when needed. She also performed a one-woman show called "Roses are Red Women are Blue" at the Lincoln Center in New York City.

I, Too, Arts Collective

When Renée Watson first moved to New York, she explored famous places in Harlem. She was sad to find that the former home of Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes was not open to the public. In 2016, she worried that this historic home might be lost. She found the owner and shared her idea to open the home for visitors.

The owner agreed if Renée could pay to rent the building. In just 30 days, Renée raised the money needed. She started a fundraising campaign called #LangstonsLegacy.

A Creative Space for the Community

Renée founded the I, Too, Arts Collective. It is named after Langston Hughes's famous poem, "I, Too." The group decided that Hughes's old home should not be a museum. Instead, it should be a creative space for the Harlem community.

The collective opened to the public in 2017. It offered creative arts programs like poetry workshops and drum classes for kids and adults. They also hosted many literary events, such as book launch parties and readings. Renée had hoped to buy the building and offer special stays for artists. These artists would then provide workshops to the community.

On November 4, 2019, the I, Too, Arts Collective announced they would close. Their lease ended on December 31, 2019, and they could not agree on a new one. However, their digital archives are still available online.

Selected Works by Renée Watson

Renée Watson's first picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, was inspired by her work with students who lived through Hurricane Katrina. She worked with these children to create their own poetry. Then, she wrote this book, which follows four kids telling their stories before, during, and after the hurricane. She first wrote it for a creative writing class and her professor encouraged her to publish it.

Piecing Me Together

Renée's second young adult novel, Piecing Me Together, was published in 2017. It tells the story of Jade, a Black teenager from a low-income family. Jade attends a mostly white high school in Portland, Oregon. The book explores her struggles with prejudice.

Piecing Me Together became a New York Times young adult hardcover bestseller in March 2018. It also received several positive reviews. It won the Coretta Scott King Author Award and the Josette Frank Award for fiction. It was also named a Newbery Honor Book. Renée was inspired to write this novel by the Black women she knew growing up. She also used a 2014 report from the NAACP about challenges faced by Black girls.

Other Notable Books

Renée co-authored Betty Before X with Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of Dr. Betty Shabazz. This book is a fictional story about Dr. Betty Shabazz's life in Detroit in 1945, before she met Malcolm X.

Her third young adult novel, Watch Us Rise, was published in 2019. It is about two best friends who start a women's rights club at their high school. Renée wrote this book with author Ellen Hagan. For her first picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, and her middle-grade novel, Some Places More Than Others, Renée worked with illustrator Shadra Strickland.

Awards and Honors

The Bank Street College of Education has recognized 13 of Renée Watson's books as the best of the year:

• What Momma Left Me (2011)
• A Place Where Hurricanes Happen (2011)
• Harlem's Little Blackbird (2013)
• This Side of Home (2016)
• Piecing Me Together (2018)
• Betty Before X (2019)
• Black Enough (2019)
• Some Places More Than Others (2020)
• Ways to Make Sunshine (2020)
• The 1619 Project: Born on the Water (2022)
• Love Is a Revolution (2022)
• T (2022)
• Every Body Shines (2022)

Bank Street also noted that Piecing Me Together (2018), Betty Before X (2019), Black Enough (2019), and T (2022) were especially outstanding.

Piecing Me Together was a New York Times Best Seller. In 2021, Barnes & Noble and Publishers Weekly listed The 1619 Project as one of the best picture books of the year. That same year, Booklist included Love is a Revolution on their lists of top books for youth. In 2022, Booklist also included Maya's Song on their lists for best youth biographies.