Ways to Build Dreams

Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award winner Renée Watson continues her bestselling series starring Ryan Hart, now in paperback.

Middle school is just around the corner for Ryan Hart, which means it’s time to start thinking about the future—and not just how to prank her brother, Ray!


Ryan wonders who she wants to be and what kind of person her family hopes she’ll become. Ryan has always been known for her sunny outlook, but can she keep hoping even when things seem hopeless? During Black History Month, Ryan learns more about her ancestors and local Black pioneers and their hopes for the future, for her generation. Drawing on the ambitions of those who came before her, and her own goals, Ryan is determined to turn her dreams into reality.

Grow and shine and share with Ryan Hart in this series that brings ever more humor, more love, and more fun.

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. 

Intermittently funny, frustrating, and touching. . . . Allows Black readers to see themselves and all readers to find a character they can love. Move over Ramona Quimby, Portland has another neighbor you have to meet! - Kirkus Reviews, starred review

 "Adroitly captures the uncertainty of growing up amid change through the eyes of an irrepressible black girl." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A beautifully rendered series of vignettes à la Beezus and Ramona featuring a Black girl developing into her own personhood, this is a strong start to a new middle-grade series. Ryan Hart is a vivacious child [...] with personality and spirit reminiscent of some of the most well-loved heroines in classic juvenile fiction tales." -- Booklist, starred review

"A fresh beginning to a new chapter book series featuring a girl who can coax out sunshine from behind the darkest storm." -- Shelf Awareness, starred review

"This brave new world we're living in sure could use more stories about these bright and imaginative girls who specialize in 'making a way out of no way.'" -- The New York Times Book Review

 "Ryan Hart approaches challenges in her life with bravery, common sense, and humor. . . . a refreshing character." -- Horn Book Magazine

"Middle graders who like realistic fiction will enjoy getting to know this earnest girl and her supportive family." -- School Library Connection

"Plenty of charm . . . readers will look forward to Ryan's future adventures." -- BCCB