The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
by Christopher Paul Curtis
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Book Summary Information
Author: Christopher Paul CurtisEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Published: 2000-12-12
ISBN: 044022800X
Number of pages: 224
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Book Reviews of The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
Book Review: Great for Kids and even adults!
Summary: 4 Stars
Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 was still troubled by the violence and was in the heart of the civil rights movement. The author has dedicated this book to four African American girls who died in the Church bombing in Birmingham of that year. The author in his first novel which is an impressive achievement writes about life in Flint, Michigan and growing up there in the wintertime in 1963. His mother would rather raise the family in the warm south, particularly her home state of Alabama. The book is really written for young adults but any adult can read this book and appreciate the realistic dialogue and situations of the Watsons, an African American family, in the midst of the Civil Rights movement.
Summary of The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
The year is 1963, and self-important Byron Watson is the bane of his younger brother Kenny's existence. Constantly in trouble for one thing or another, from straightening his hair into a "conk" to lighting fires to freezing his lips to the mirror of the new family car, Byron finally pushes his family too far. Before this "official juvenile delinquent" can cut school or steal change one more time, Momma and Dad finally make good on their threat to send him to the deep south to spend the summer with his tiny, strict grandmother. Soon the whole family is packed up, ready to make the drive from Flint, Michigan, straight into one of the most chilling moments in America's history: the burning of the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church with four little girls inside.Christopher Paul Curtis's alternately hilarious and deeply moving novel, winner of the Newbery Honor and the Coretta Scott King Honor, blends the fictional account of an African American family with the factual events of the violent summer of 1963. Fourth grader Kenny is an innocent and sincere narrator; his ingenuousness lends authenticity to the story and invites readers of all ages into his world, even as it changes before his eyes. Curtis is also the acclaimed author of Bud, Not Buddy, winner of the Newbery Medal. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter
A wonderful middle-grade novel narrated by Kenny, 9, about his middle-class black family, the Weird??Watsons of Flint, Michigan. When Kenny's??13-year-old brother, Byron, gets to be too much trouble,??they head South to Birmingham to visit Grandma, the??one person who can shape him up. And they happen to??be in Birmingham when Grandma's church is blown??up.
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