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  • Piecing Me Together

Piecing Me Together

Author
Renée Watson
Publication Date
February 14, 2017
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction /  9th − 10th
Language
English
Piecing Me Together
Description
Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner
New York Times bestseller
"Timely and timeless." --Jacqueline Woodson
"Important and deeply moving." --John Green

Acclaimed author Renee Watson offers a powerful story about a girl striving for success in a world that too often seems like it's trying to break her.

Jade believes she must get out of her poor neighborhood if she's ever going to succeed. Her mother tells her to take advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. And Jade has: every day she rides the bus away from her friends and to the private school where she feels like an outsider, but where she has plenty of opportunities. But some opportunities she doesn't really welcome, like an invitation to join Women to Women, a mentorship program for "at-risk" girls. Just because her mentor is black and graduated from the same high school doesn't mean she understands where Jade is coming from. She's tired of being singled out as someone who needs help, someone people want to fix. Jade wants to speak, to create, to express her joys and sorrows, her pain and her hope. Maybe there are some things she could show other women about understanding the world and finding ways to be real, to make a difference.

NPR’s Best Books of 2017
A 2017 New York Public Library Best Teen Book of the Year
Chicago Public Library’s Best Books of 2017
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2017
Kirkus Reviews’ Best Teen Books of 2017
2018 Josette Frank Award Winner
Publication date
February 14, 2017
Genre
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781681191058
Lexile Measure
680
Publisher
Bloomsbury YA
BISAC categories
JUV011010 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - African-American
JUV039020 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Adolescence
JUV014000 - Juvenile Fiction | Girls & Women
Library of Congress categories
African Americans
Schools
Mentoring
High schools
African American girls

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review
Jade's narrative voice offers compelling reflections on the complexities of race and gender, class and privilege, and fear and courage, while conveying the conflicted emotions of an ambitious, loyal girl. Teeming with compassion and insight, Watson's story trumpets the power of artistic expression to re-envision and change the world. 

Kirkus

Starred Review
A timely, nuanced, and unforgettable story about the power of art, community, and friendship.

School Library Journal

This unique and thought-provoking title offers a nuanced meditation on race, privilege, and intersectionality.

ALA/Booklist

A balancing act between class, race, and social dynamics, with Watson constantly undercutting stereotypes and showing no fear in portraying virtues along with vices. The book's defiance of a single-issue lens will surely inspire discussion and consideration.
Renée Watson

Renée Watson is a New York Times bestselling author. Her novel, Piecing Me Together, received a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award. Her books include Love is a Revolution, Ways to Make Sunshine, Some Places More Than Others, This Side of Home, What Momma Left Me, Betty Before X, co-written with Ilyasah Shabazz, and Watch Us Rise, co-written with Ellen Hagan, as well as two acclaimed picture books: A Place Where Hurricanes Happen and Harlem's Little Blackbird, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Renée grew up in Portland, Oregon, and splits her time between Portland and New York City.

www.reneewatson.net
@harlemportland (Instagram)
@reneewauthor (Twitter)

Newbery Medal
-
Honor Book 2018 - 2018
Coretta Scott King Award
-
Winner 2018 - 2018
School Library Journal Best Books
-
Honoree 2017 - 2017
Kirkus Reviews’ Best Teen Books
-
Honoree 2018 - 2018
Josette Frank Award
-
Winner 2018 - 2018