All the Blues in the Sky by Renee Watson

 On Sage's 13th birthday, her best friend is hit by a car and killed. Sage is overcome with grief, and works with councilors to try to deal with it.  She is part of a grief group at school, but feels that her own situation is far more difficult than those in the group who lost their grandmother or someone through a long drawn out sickness, because her friend died so suddenly.  Can Sage ever feel joy or happiness again?

This novel, written in verse, won the Newbery Medal this year  It is very well written and feels like it authentically represents what a young teen might go through while grieving the death of their friend.  I can see why the committee chose it for the Newbery Medal, but I am also disappointed that it won.  It really is a bit of a downer.  I could see that it would be valuable for a child going through grief, but I don't know if I would ever recommend it to a child who was just looking for a good book to read. I think that sometimes the committee is moved by these kinds of Rx books, thinking that they would be "so good for children."  The truth is, no book is good for children unless they are willing to read it. Only a small subset of children are interested in a book where someone's best friend dies. (2025, 208 p)