Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 ANNOTATION
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Enter the hilarious world of 10-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There's Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron, who's 13 and an "official juvenile delinquent." When Momma and Dad decide it's time for a visit to Grandma, Dad comes home with the amazing Ultra-Glide, and the Watsons set out on a trip like no other. They're heading South. They're going to Birmingham, Alabama, toward one of the darkest moments in America's history.
SYNOPSIS
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.
FROM THE CRITICS
Children's Literature - Susie Wilde
This is our favorite read-aloud this year. Humor and drama light up history as the Weird Watsons, an African-American family from Flint, Michigan, seek to rehabilitate Byron, who is thirteen and an "official juvenile delinquent," by taking him "down South." The book is seen through the eyes of his ten-year-old brother, Kenny, who admires and is terrified by his brother's daring exploits and chooses a comic voice to tell about these adventures. The characters are so real that they propel you through the story. They compel you to laugh when Bryon kisses a mirror in Michigan's freezing temperatures and gets his lips stuck to the glass, to feel an overpowering horror as Kenny is nearly drowned in a whirlpool and to fear when youngest sister Joetta just escapes the Birmingham bombings. The ups and downs of the story's mood lend a feeling of real life to these real characters who make the Civil Rights Era seem very real. Never have I read a book in which comedy and drama meld so seamlessly.
Children's Literature - Victoria Crenson
The story of the Weird Watson family of Flint, Michigan, as told by ten-year-old Kenny Watson, is achingly funny. Kenny's is a middle-child's view-wrapped in the warm presence of his quirky family and yet in many ways, feeling like an alien. The escapades of older brother Byron, the tormenter, also known as the Lipless Wonder after he kisses his reflection in a frozen car mirror and must be forcibly unstuck, will have readers rolling on the floor. (The author clearly understands the edgy, love-hate feelings that tie siblings to each other for a lifetime.) Kenny's story is also a heartbreaking look at one child's attempt to cope with a crisis of spirit after a shattering event in Birmingham. In his first novel, Curtis has created a voice of extraordinary force.
Children's Literature - Jan Lieberman
The author has created a story with so many rich, tender, and hilarious moments that it is easy to believe that the family and events are real. Kenny, 10, tells the story. Kenny's description of brother Byron's antics leaves little doubt that this 13-year-old is on his way to being an "official delinquent." He is the cause of the family's decision to visit Birmingham to leave him with his maternal grandmother. The trip itself is a hoot as Dad decides to save money by making it a non-stop trip from Flint, Michigan. In Birmingham they are soon caught in the maelstrom of events of the emerging Civil Rights Movement. The spectrum of emotions from comedy to tragedy make this a worthy Newbery Honor Book, 1996.
The ALAN Review - Jeanne Marcum Gerlach
Curtis introduces the reader to ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Watsons - Momma, Dad, Joetta, Kenny, and Byron - in his first, but unforgettable, novel. We meet the Watsons one super-cold Saturday in their home in Flint, Michigan. We immediately sense the family closeness through the comedic dialogue of the characters. However, we soon travel with the family from their somewhat calm life in the North to Birmingham, Alabama, where the Civil Rights movement was just beginning. Curtis introduces us to the South of the 1960s-a place where African Americans couldn't eat in restaurants, use public restrooms, or be seen on the streets after dark. The trip with Kenny and his family is realistic: I felt I was in the car with them. I saw the water fountains with the NO BLACKS signs. I saw the busses where African Americans stood near the rear. And I heard my African-American friends admit that they were afraid to travel in certain areas of our country. Traveling with the Watsons to Birmingham was like looking at a picture from the past. I trust that picture will keep changing for the better. I feel re-awakened. Thank you, Christopher Paul Curtis.
School Library Journal
Gr 6 Up-Kenny's family is known in Flint, Michigan, as the Weird Watsons, for lots of good reasons. Younger sister Joetta has been led to believe she has to be overdressed in the winter because Southern folks (their mother is from Alabama) freeze solid and have to be picked up by the city garbage trucks. Kenny, the narrator, does well in school and tries to meet his hard-working parents' expectations. After a string of misdeeds, Mr. and Mrs. Watson decide that tough guy, older brother Byron must be removed from the bad influences of the city and his gang. They feel that his maternal grandmother and a different way of life in Birmingham might make him appreciate what he has. Since the story is set in 1963, the family must make careful preparations for their trip, for they cannot count on food or housing being available on the road once they cross into the South. The slow, sultry pace of life has a beneficial effect on all of the children until the fateful day when a local church is bombed, and Kenny runs to look for his sister. Written in a full-throated, hearty voice, this is a perfectly described piece of past imperfect. Curtis's ability to switch from fun and funky to pinpoint-accurate psychological imagery works unusually well. Although the horrific Birmingham Sunday throws Kenny into temporary withdrawl, this story is really about the strength of family love and endurance. Ribald humor, sly sibling digs, and a totally believable child's view of the world will make this book an instant hit.-Cindy Darling Codell, Clark Middle School, Winchester, KY
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