Today we’re spotlighting Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renee Watson!
Read on for more about the author, the book, plus enter the giveaway!
About the Author: Renee Watson
Renée Watson is a #1 New York Times Bestselling author of books for young readers. Her books have sold over one million copies. Her young adult novel, Piecing Me Together, received a Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Honor. Her children’s picture books and novels for teens have received several awards and international recognition. Many of her books are inspired by her experiences growing up as a Black girl in the Pacific Northwest. Her poetry and fiction center around the experiences of Black girls and explore themes of home, identity, body image, and the intersections of race, class, and gender.
She has given readings and lectures at many renown places including the United Nations, the Library of Congress, and the U.S. Embassy in Japan and New Zealand. One of Renée’s passions is using the arts to help youth cope with trauma and discuss social issues. Her picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen is based on poetry workshops she facilitated with children in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Renée was a writer-in-residence for over twenty years teaching creative writing and theater in public schools and community centers throughout the nation. She founded I, Too Arts Collective, a nonprofit that was housed in the Harlem brownstone where Langston Hughes lived the last twenty years of his life. The organization hosted poetry workshops for youth and literary events for the community from 2016-2019.
Watson is on the Council of Writers for the National Writing Project and is a member of the Academy of American Poets’ Education Advisory Council. She is also a writer-in-residence at The Solstice Low-Residency MFA Creative Writing Program.
Renée grew up in Portland, Oregon, and splits her time between Portland and New York City. To learn more about her work visit her at www.reneewatson.net.
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About the Book: Black Girl You Are Atlas
A thoughtful celebration of Black girlhood by award-winning author and poet Renée Watson.
In this semi-autobiographical collection of poems, Renée Watson writes
about her experience growing up as a young Black girl at the intersections of race, class, and gender.
Using a variety of poetic forms, from haiku to free verse, Watson shares recollections of her childhood in Portland, tender odes to the Black women in her life, and urgent calls for Black girls to step into their power.
Black Girl You Are Atlas encourages young readers to embrace their future with a strong sense of sisterhood and celebration. With full-color art by celebrated fine artist Ekua Holmes throughout, this collection offers guidance and is a gift for anyone who reads it.
~Excerpt~
When Tomorrow Comes
Be the one whose laugh
sounds like the wings of a million birds.
Laugh louder and longer
than anyone in the room.
I want to see you forgiving.
Want you letting go and emptying yourself
of all that’s weighing you down.
Want your hands lifted and cupped
ready to receive the downpour.
I want you fully bloomed and fragrant.
Want you succulent and lush.
I want you to be moon.
Stay, stay. No matter who is shining next to you
blocking your shine. Stay, stay.
Yes, I want you to be moon.
A sliver of your light is more than enough.
Always, someone somewhere sees you.
Excerpted from Black Girl You Are Atlas. Text copyright © 2024 by Renée Watson, Fine art copyright © 2024 by Ekua Holmes, published by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC
Title: Black Girl You Are Atlas
Author: Written by Renee Watson; with fine art by Ekua Holmes
Publisher: Kokila
Release Date: February 13, 2024
*GIVEAWAY DETAILS*
I think I need this. My daughter, especially needs it. 🙂
Oh, I love poems.
The cover is eye-catching and I can’t wait to read this book!