The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963 is the story of a black family in 1963 narrated by Kenny, the youngest son and second child. His mom, father, brother and sister all live in Flint, Michigan. He takes the bus to school every day, plays with dinosaurs with his friends and gets teased by his ill-behaved brother. They joke. They tease. They laugh together. This is life in Flint, Michigan for a black family through the eyes of a ten year old. A trip to Birmingham to visit their Grandmother throws the family into an event that young Kenny struggles to understand. It’s hard to find children’s books with young black narrators. I am glad I was able to read this one because it is extreme simply and yet very powerful. The struggles of the parents and of what was happening around the children was very subtle. It was almost too subtle but it was there until the very end. One of the things tha