Title: The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
Publisher: Yearling, division of Random House, Inc.,
New York (1995)
Awards: Newberry Honor
Coretta Scott King Honor
Summary:
Kenny Watson, age 10, narrates this young adult novel about the “weird Watsons” who live in Flint, Michigan. Momma, Daddy, younger sister Joetta, and older brother Byron (the family’s “juvenile delinquent”) along with Kenny are Curtis’s version of the Cosby family, not quite so affluent and living in the 1960s. Because Momma hails from Alabama, she and Daddy decide to outfit the Brown Bomber, their 1948 Plymouth, with an Ultra Glide and take a family trip to see Grandma who lives in Birmingham. Little do they know that they will arrive just in time to experience one of the most notorious and horrendous events of the summer of 1963.
Personal Response:
I thoroughly enjoy Curtis’s effective use of dialogue in this novel. It aids in making his characters recognizable and believable. Curtis is able to add humor to the poignant story of a solid middle class black family who must confront bigotry and hatred. I enjoy reading this story to my fourth graders because they identify with the language and the descriptions of the three Watson kids. They always laugh at Byron, the tough 13-year-old, who gets his lips frozen to the mirror on the Brown Bomberwhen he attempts to kiss his reflection on a cold winter afternoon! Although the main characters in this book live in the sixties, their attitudes, language and behavior are all universally typical adolescent behaviors with which young readers can identify.
In this book, Kenny must confront the horrible reality of death as well as man’s inhumanity to man. His reaction to this leads him to silence and withdrawal which reminded me of Anita in Before We Were Free. Kenny’s “love/hate” relationship with Byron reminded me of the relationship Martha, in Olive’s Ocean, has with her big brother, who, like Byron, eventually comes to the emotional “rescue” of
his younger sibling. Like Turner in Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, Kenny is forced to confront the horrible realities of racism, inequality and hatred. Like Anita, Kenny must look within himself and within his family to find the strength to overcome emotional paralysis.
Evaluation:
Curtis brings the Watsons to life and makes them real through effective dialogue and description. Kenny and Byron are like all adolescents struggling to belong and to make sense of their world. Curtis is able to paint a picture of a strong middle class family who also seems very human and very real; they seem like the family down the street. They seem like any average American family living their lives and “minding their business” and yet still susceptible to the horrors of a tragedy like the bombing in Birmingham or the destruction of the twin towers in New York.
This is a good read-aloud for 4th or 5th grade and an independent reader for 5th and above. This book could accompany a study of civil rights or be a companion to other books which deal with similar themes, coming of age, inequality, justice, and the power of family.