Description
The Watsons Go to Birmingham is a novel about a family who are going to Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963 during the time of the civil rights movement. Kenny is a ten-year-old boy and one of the main characters in the novel. Byron is Kenny's older brother and he is always getting into trouble. Momma and Dad are going to send him to live with his strict grandmother in Alabama, and before they leave, Kenny has to say goodbye to his friends. The family is going to drive from Flint, Michigan, to Alabama and when they get there, they will see the fire that burned down the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church.
Ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Watsons of Flint, Michigan, are heading for Birmingham, Alabama, and one of the darkest moments in American history. 1996 Newbery Honor Book. 1996 Coretta Scott King Honor Book. An ALA Notable Book. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults. A New York Times Book Review Best Book. A Horn Book Fanfare.
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
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