Portland’s Renée Watson wins the Newbery Medal for her children’s book ‘All the Blues in the Sky’

Renée Watson’s “All the Blues in the Sky,” in which the author blends poetry and prose to tell the story of a teen confronting the death of her best friend, has won the John Newbery Medal for the year’s best children’s book.

Watson, who grew up in Portland, expressed gratitude to “every anchor that has supported me as I navigated my own grief these past few years.

“Here’s to loving and living, to grieving and remembering, to growing and most of all to letting ourselves feel joy even in the midst of sorrow,” said Watson, who now lives in Harlem and Portland. “There is much to rage against and also, there is so much to celebrate.”

Another prestigious award, the Randolph Caldecott Medal for outstanding illustration, was given to Cátia Chien for the summertime picture book “Fireworks,” written by Matthew Burgess.

The Caldecott and Newbery awards, along with dozens of other prizes for children’s literature, were announced Monday by the American Library Association.

Jewell Parker Rhodes’s adventure story “Will’s Race for Home” won the Coretta Scott King Award for best book by a Black author, and R. Gregory Christie won the King illustration award for the book he worked on with author Calvin Alexander Ramsey, “The Library in the Woods.” Author-illustrator Kadir Nelson, whose dozens of credits include the Caldecott-winning picture book “The Undefeated,” received the King-Virginia Hamilton lifetime achievement award.

“The Pecan Sheller,” written by Lupe Ruiz-Flores, won the Pura Belpré author award for Latino literature, and Abraham Matias won the Belpré illustration prize for “Popo the Xolo.” Janelle Brown’s ”What Kind of Paradise," Daniel H. Wilson’s “Hole in the Sky” and Leila Mottley’s “The Girls Who Grew Big” were among 10 winners of the Alex Award for adult books that appeal to teen readers.

“Halfway to Somewhere,” written and illustrated by Jose Pimienta, won the Stonewall prize for a work of “exceptional merit for children or teens relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience.”