Portland's Renee Watson wins Newbery Medal for 'All the Blues in the Sky' * Oregon ArtsWatch

""I normally don't answer numbers I don't know, but I just answered it, and it was the committee," Watson said, referring to the library association's Newbery Award Selection Committee. The committee chair told Watson that she was the 2026 winner of the Newbery Medal. "And then all of these cheers come," Watson said. The whole committee was on speakerphone. "So it was beautiful to share that moment with all of them who had voted for the book.""

""Then, as the committee chair began discussing the Newbery Medal ceremony in June in Chicago, Watson looked at a shelf where she keeps photos of loved ones who have passed away: Her mother and her grandmother. The poet Nikki Giovanni, who was "like a mom" to her. Her friends D&eacuteLana Dameron and Charnetta Hutson. "All these women who have inspired me, loved me, held me up, were kind of looking out at me, and then that's when I just lost it," Watson said.""

Renée Watson won the 2026 Newbery Medal for her 2025 middle-grade novel All the Blues in the Sky, which now carries the medal sticker on its cover. The American Library Association announced the award on Jan. 26. Watson, who divides her time between Portland and New York City, received the news by phone from the Newbery Award Selection Committee and shared an emotional moment with members on speakerphone. She looked at photos of deceased loved ones and allies during the call and cried because the book centers on loss and she has experienced significant recent bereavements.

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