Some Places More Than Others

 From Newbery Honor- and Coretta Scott King Author Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Renée Watson comes a heartwarming and inspiring novel for middle schoolers about finding deep roots and exploring the past, the present, and the places that make us who we are.

All Amara wants for her birthday is to visit her father's family in New York City--Harlem, to be exact. She can't wait to finally meet her Grandpa Earl and cousins in person, and to stay in the brownstone where her father grew up. Maybe this will help her understand her family--and herself--in new way.

But New York City is not exactly what Amara thought it would be. It's crowded, with confusing subways, suffocating sidewalks, and her father is too busy with work to spend time with her and too angry to spend time with Grandpa Earl. As she explores, asks questions, and learns more and more about Harlem and about her father and his family history, she realizes how, in some ways more than others, she connects with him, her home, and her family

Renée Watson is the New York Times bestselling, Newbery Honor Book, and Coretta Scott King Award-winning author of Piecing Me Together, This Side of Home, What Momma Left Me, and Betty Before X, co-written with Ilyasah Shabazz, 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. She is the founder of I, Too, Arts Collective, a nonprofit committed to nurturing underrepresented voices in the creative arts, and currently lives in New York City

"A meaningful opportunity for students-particularly those in underrepresented communities-to celebrate themselves and their identities." --School Library Connection, starred review

"Watson is a master of structure and character development. . . . Amara's search for her roots is tender and empowering." -- School Library Journal, starred review

"A much-needed novel about the importance of roots and family connections." -- Foreword Reviews, starred review
"Captures a young person's growing enlightenment as she experiences one of the world's most culturally rich neighborhoods. . . . Very relatable. . . . Quietly powerful.
" -- The New York Times Book Review

"The book excels at the delicate nuance of family dynamics. . . . This is the kind of special family trip many kids would love to make, and they'll get vicarious satisfaction from traveling with Amara." -- BCCB

"Watson proves her deftness in depicting settings; while the two places are as different as can be, the reader comes away with an appreciation of both Oregon and New York." -- Horn Book Magazine