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Renée Watson Believes Self-Love Is a Revolution
This New York Times bestselling author’s latest YA novel is an unapologetic love letter to Black girls
With Black girlhood at the helm, Renée Watson wants to start important conversations. The New York Times bestselling author has written books (one which has been optioned for a movie) about activist girls who raise their voices and take to the streets. But Watson’s latest installment, Love Is a Revolution, is an unapologetic love letter that highlights the quieter voices who show up for themselves and their loved ones in small, but equally important ways. After all, the main character’s grandmother says, “The most radical thing you can do is love yourself and each other.”
In the opening scene of Watson’s latest novel, Nala wants to accomplish three things: Find a new hairstyle; spend more time with her sister-cousin-friend, Imani, and best friend, Sadie; and most importantly, find love. But love is hard, and it requires patience, selflessness, and perseverance. Watson further explores the many themes of radical love by featuring Black teens figuring out themselves and their identities in the world. This realistic fiction is a sustainable ode to community, sisterhood, and self-love.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
ZORA: The reader gets a very intimate view of the main character’s journey to self-love. And because the book is written from a first person point of view, it’s almost as if the reader is also on a journey to self-discovery, too. Why did you choose to write this book (and all of your other works) in the first person?
Renée Watson: First, thank you for asking a craft question; including Black authors in conversations of craft is so necessary. First person is my favorite point of view to write from, especially for young adult novels. There’s an immediacy and an intimacy that immediately connects a reader to the character. Because young people often live in a fast-paced world, first person POV connects with them on a deeper level as opposed to a more removed third person or bird’s-eye view kind of writing.
“Black kids need to see themselves falling in love, having fun, and being a…
