The Horn Book calls EVERYTHING NEW AGAIN by Renée Watson “tender…thought-provoking and sensitively portrayed” in starred review

★ Everything New Again by Renée Watson 
High School Bloomsbury 304 pp. 10/13/26.

“This tender romance takes place over winter break in a small town in Oregon. Bliss works in her family’s funeral home and proclaims that she is “not afraid of death.” As one of the few Black people in her community, she faces racism and most of her classmates don’t understand her. Her nearly all-black wardrobe doesn’t make her “creepy like they assume”; it’s simply her favorite color. The high school senior has never had a boyfriend until Solomon, the biracial son of the local florist, brings a delivery to the funeral home and they immediately hit it off. Their relationship culminates in her lying to her overprotective parents in order to spend New Year’s Eve with him in Portland. Watson tells the story primarily through alternating chapters from each teen’s point of view, and the importance of openness and vulnerability, the value of speaking from the heart, and the potential harm in keeping secrets are key themes. Solomon is in town to learn more about his mom and why she seemingly abandoned him. Bliss is keeping Solomon in the dark about something important, and when the truth is revealed, he’s devastated. Upon close reflection, readers may see the clues Watson carefully lays out throughout the book about Bliss’s fate. Thought-provoking and sensitively portrayed.”

—MARVA ANNE HINTON, The Horn Book