The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

Book Genre: Historical Fiction

Publishing Info: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc 1995. 210 pages
Awards or honors received: Coretta Scott King Award, Newberry Honor

Summary: 10 year old Kenny is the middle child of three in a family nicknamed "The Wierd Watsons." Due to his poor vision and his high intellect, Kenny is a social outcast. His older brother Byron on the other hand, having just turned 13 is "officially a teenage juvenile delinquent" and is a god at their school. Kenny has a hard time understanding Byron's actions, actions which often lead to Byron's upsetting his parents. Eventually their parents decide to take Byron to Birmingham to spend the summer with his grandmother and remove him from the negative influences at home in Flint, MI.

In Birmingham, the Watson children experience culture shock particularly when they learn about outhouses. Fiction meets fact on September 15, 1963, when Kenny's younger sister Joetta attends the 16th Street Baptist Church, the church is the target of a Ku Klux Klan bomb which kills four young girls. Kenny believes that in the wreckage of the church he sees the physical embodiment of death, a character he knows as the "Wool Pooh." Kenny had previously met the Wool Pooh during a near-death experience in a whirlpool a few days before (he survives only because Byron arrives in time to defeat the Wool Pooh). Now Kenny feels that he is haunted by this spirit.

Back home in Flint, Kenny becomes reclusive, hiding behind a living room couch in the hopes of encountering some form of magic healing powers. Ultimately a heart to heart talk from Byron convinces Kenny that life must go on and Kenny learns that despite Byron's gruff exterior, he takes his role as big brother seriously and does everything he can to protect both of his younger siblings.

Personal rating and reason for rating: Great. Amusing story with realistic characters and situations. Gives insight into life in working class African American family in the 1960s.

Reading level: AR Level 5

Interest level: Fifth to Seventh Grade

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Typically I use this text as part of a unit on the Civil Rights movement. I combine this text with historical information of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing.

This text could be used to discuss themes such as identity and the need to belong as well as friendship, family and coming of age. It could also be used to discuss how characters evolve. Open-mind portraits could be created at various points for both Kenny and Byron. Students could also compare life in the 1960s to the present day.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: In order to depict Byron as a juvenile delinquient there are several dialogues that involve foul language.