Love Is a Revolution

by Renée Watson

  Tye asks, “So, what does this mean—you came over to give me this photo. Is that all?”

  “I don’t want that to be all,” I say. “I kind of feel like we need to start over,” I tell him. “I mean, I guess what I’m saying is, I want to start over.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  We sit for a while, and now more people are coming out to sit and play in the courtyard. A siren wails in the background, and three children are splashing in the water fountain giggling and chasing one another. There’s a woman walking by pushing a stroller and an elderly man walking with a cane, slowly but surely.

  August is ending, and this time next week I’ll be sitting in a classroom with a teacher saying something about senior year being an important year, a year for making memories and treasuring every moment because this is it, real life is about to begin.

  “So how do we start over?” I ask.

  Tye says, “Tell me something about you that I don’t know.”

  And we begin again.

  A NOTE ABOUT THE SONG LYRICS

  Music is such a big part of my life. Music comforts, guides, heals. I almost always have music on in my home. I love how music shifts a mood, creates an atmosphere. And there’s nothing like that amen moment when a lyric speaks to my heart and says for me what I couldn’t put into words but what I feel so, so deeply. I wanted Nala to have that experience. Nala can’t always find the words she wants to say, but when she’s listening to the singer Blue, she feels validated, heard. Music is a friend to Nala, speaking to her (and for her) and encouraging her to be her best self.

  I created the character Blue with the vibe of Lauryn Hill and Koffee in mind, mixed with a little bit of Lizzo and Beyoncé too. All the lyrics are inspired by the poetic prowess of Lucille Clifton. These songs are in conversation with Lucille’s poems “birth-day,” “homage to my hips,” and “what the mirror said.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you to early readers who gave me feedback and talked me through some of my revision woes. Writing a novel takes a village and what a beautiful village I have: Jennifer Baker, Tracey Baptiste, Linda Christensen, Ellen Hagan, Kori Johnson, and Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich.

  To my publishing team, especially my editor, Sarah Shumway, and my agent, Rosemary Stimola. And a heartfelt thank-you to Alex Cabal for bringing Nala to life and creating a stunning, fierce cover.

  BLOOMSBURY YA

  Bloomsbury Publishing Inc., part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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  This electronic edition published in 2020 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  First published in the United States of America in February 2021

  by Bloomsbury Children’s Books

  Text copyright © 2021 by Renée Watson

  All rights reserved

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Watson, Renée, author.

  Title: Love is a revolution / by Renée Watson.

  Description: New York : Bloomsbury, 2021.

  Summary: Harlem teenager Nala is looking forward to a summer of movies and ice cream until she falls in love with the very woke Tye and pretends to be a social activist.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2020035010 (print) | LCCN 2020035011 (e-book)

  ISBN 978-1-5476-0060-1 (HB)

  ISBN 978-1-5476-0061-8 (eBook)

  Subjects: CYAC: Love—Fiction. | Dating (Social customs)— Fiction. |

  Self-acceptance—Fiction. | Social action—Fiction. | Jamaican Americans— Fiction. |

  Harlem (New York, N.Y.)— Fiction. | New York (N.Y.)— Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.W32868 Lo 2021 (print) |

  LCC PZ7.W32868 (e-book) | DDC [Fic]— dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020035010

  LC e-book record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020035011

  Book design by Jeanette Levy

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