What Momma Left Me

By Renée Watson

From the New York Times bestselling author of Piecing Me Together, a 2018 Newbery Honor Book and a Coretta Scott King Author Award-winner: a powerful novel about finding where you belong and the light in dark places

'Warm, rich and satisfying' Kirkus

Serenity knows she is good at keeping secrets, and she's got a whole lifetime's worth of them.

Her mother is dead, her father is gone, and she and her brother have to start over again by moving in with their grandparents. At first, things seem like they could be good: a new friend, a new church, a new school.

But when her brother seems to be going down the wrong path, the old fears set in. Will he end up like their dad? Will she end up like their mum?

In this exquisite coming of age story, Serenity discovers it is the power of love that keeps you sure of who you are, and who you will become.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Feb 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781526600929

Renée Watson

Renée Watson is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. Her young adult novel Piecing Me Together received a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award. Her children’s picture books and novels for teens have received several awards and international recognition. Her picture books include A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills, Summer Is Here, and The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, written with Nikole Hannah-Jones. Renée grew up in Oregon and splits her time between Portland and Harlem.

Reviews for What Momma Left Me

[nbmars · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is not a sad book, but when I finished, I sure felt sad that a book with these themes needed to be written for kids who have been through similar trials and tribulations. Like the powerful book Pull by B. A. Binns, this is another book about a boy and a girl who must go live with their grandparents after the father kills the mother. Also as in Pull, the mother had been physically abused for some time, with the father assuring the male child that this is one of the ways in which “manhood” is demonstrated. Whereas Pull features teens a bit older, the two kids in What Momma Left Me are in the seventh and eighth grade. Also, the grandparents in this book are very involved in the church; in fact, the grandfather is the pastor of the Restoration Baptist Church. This book can probably be categorized as “Christian fiction.”Each chapter title is a part of The Lord’s Prayer, which is cleverly dovetailed to reflect what is going on the life of the characters. (For example, in Chapter One, titled “Our Father,” we learn about the father of the kids.) The narrator is Serenity Evans, age 13, who is ostensibly writing this as entries in a diary.As the story begins, Serenity and her brother Danny have just moved in with their grandparents, where they come to learn that men (like their grandfather) can actually dispense love instead of just fear, and where they come to terms with their losses:"Memories of my momma pop in my head at the most unexpected times. Like when I sing the lyrics to a song I didn’t even realize I knew. Momma is a song that I can’t forget. Her melody comes to mind and I realize that traces of her song are still here.”Serenity has a crisis of faith when things keep going wrong; she thinks God is cruel and has forgotten about her and her friends. After pretending too many times to be sick so she doesn’t have to go to church, she finally confesses her internal conflict to her grandmother. Her Grandma has the perfect answer for Serenity, explaining it to her in a way they can both relate to: Serenity’s mother’s fabulous red velvet cake. Her Grandma explains: you would hate to eat just the oil, or just the flour, or just the raw eggs. But in the end, when they all come together, something beautiful emerges. Life, Grandma says, is like that too.Discussion: In a bit of twist on the concept of “whitewashing,” we have a wonderfully sweet cover featuring an adorable young black girl holding a cake. The color of the protagonist is not whitewashed at all, but one might say that the plot is, in the sense of glossing over or covering up. This is a book about domestic violence, child sexual abuse, drug trading, and drug use. Yes, it is all soft-pedaled to be appropriate for a middle-grade or tween audience, and it is furthermore couched in a great deal of religious explanation and inspiration. But seriously, look at the cover. I love it, but maybe for a different kind of book! Evaluation: Uplifting story about how to cope when bad things happen in your life told by a very likeable young girl in a Christian context. It is promulgated as a young adult book, but to me, the writing seems more characteristic of middle grade books.

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Moving story about coping with loss.

[crochetbunnii · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Serenity's father kills her mother in a rage, leaving Serenity and her brother to move in with their grandparents. While Serenity comes to terms with the consequence of domestic abuse and how to each out for help when she needs it, she adjusts to life at a new school and a new friend from her grandparents' church. The religious commentary in this book is not overpowering and Renee Watson describes a realistic and honest portrayal of life for a thirteen year girl coming to terms with her situation and realizing that she can make her own destiny.

[librarygrrrl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Serenity Evans is 13 and while most 13-year-olds believe their lives are complicated, hers really is. Her mother just died, she and her younger brother have to go live with her grandparents (including her preacher grandfather), no one seems to know where her father has gone, she is being forced to go to church, and now her grandparents are making her change schools. Pick up this book for a look inside the complex, compelling life of a young teenage girl who is struggling to come to grips with changes that would throw even the most wizened adult for a loop.

[sammusher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So glad this got a new cover. This looks like upper-elementary sweetness and light, but it deals with some serious trauma. It's warm and engaging, though; I might give it to middle schoolers who need some bibliotherapy around issues of parental death or abuse or generally taking control of their own lives, but I can't imagine any kid who's okay reading about those issues wouldn't be caught up in it. Religion is shown as a strong support through difficult times, with realistic questioning of belief. There's a brief poetry exercise at the beginning of each chapter -- easy to gloss over if it's not your thing, but a good classroom connection for young writers. (The author is a poetry teacher.)