The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963: By Christopher Paul Curtis

        Revisiting a book from your childhood as an adult is something too few people do, unless merely to pass along a book they loved to their son or daughter, without taking the time to reread the story themselves. My adolescent years were spent despising to read books that were in assigned in school, so thanks to my BFF, Sparknotes, the books I read for school were few and far between. Meaning, if I can sit here now, as a graduate student and remember the story told in a particular book, I must have really enjoyed it.
        I read The Watons Go to Birmingham-1963, by Christopher Paul Curtis (author of Newberry Award Winning Bud, Not Buddy) when I was a 7th grade student in Mrs. Batka's English class at Johnson-Williams Middle School. This historical fiction novel invites the reader to enter the world of ten-year-old Kenny and his hilarious Flint, Michigan family, the Weird Watsons. Kenny introduces us to Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and thirteen year-old brother Byron, as they all huddle together on the couch, surviving yet another Michigan winter. Big brother Byron is always getting himself into trouble, causing the main source of conflict within the book. It seems he is always picking on Kenny, being scolded by Momma and Dad, or skipping class to hangout with this best buddy, Buphead (yes, that really is his name!). However, it is not until Byron is caught playing with matches, despite the previous warnings, that they finally dub him a "juvenile delinquent". The final straw for Momma and Dad putting up with Byron's behavior comes when he gets a conk (a hair-do that turns his hair reddish, brown, straight, stuff and slick looking) against his parents' strict wishes, that they decide it would be best if he spent the summer, and possibly the school year, living in Birmingham, Alabama with Grandma Sands, Momma's mother.
         They spend a great deal of time fixing up the family car known as the Brown Bomber, and preparing it to make the trip to Alabama. After driving all day and straight through the night, the Weird Watsons finally pull into Grandma Sand's driveway and are met with big hugs and streaming tears. We learn on the trip to Birmingham that the novel's title The Watons Go to Birmingham-1963 comes from the notebook Momma used to plan out every detail of their trip, and refers to the year they traveling, 1963, during a time of great unrest in the South.
        The family plans to stay several days with Grandma Sands, before leaving her and Byron to return to Flint, Michigan; however, several days into their trip, during Sunday school, Grandma Sand's church is bombed. The Watson children, being from the North, have never encountered this level of racism, and until this point, the Civil Rights Movement in the South was just a story heard on the radio or in the newspaper. But none take the bombing harder than Kenny, who had run to the church and believed one of his family members to be dead. After the bombing the Watsons return to Michigan, taking Byron with them, realizing that this was not the time to split the family up across the country. Upon returning to Flint, Kenny can't help but remember what happened in Birmingham and Byron does his best as a big brother to try to help him make sense of it. We see a brotherly relationship grow and strengthen between Byron and Kenny, as Byron realizes he needs to grow up and help his brother, and Kenny realizes that despite the tragedies in the world, he must push forward.
        The Watons Go to Birmingham-1963 is a historical fiction novel depicting events surrounding the Civil Rights Movement in 1963. As we read the novel we see that both the plot and setting are consistent with events and details from the time period, helping to make this fiction story seem as though it could have really happened. The story is made further authentic through the use of dialogue where Curtis has Momma and Grandma Sands speaking in very genuine-sounding thick Southern Accents. This detail helps the reader to really believe that the characters were truly of the time period and raised in the deep South, using words and phrases like y'all and proper hug. The historical accuracy of the book is further solidified through the use of relevant Civil Rights Movement themes and information, including both racism and the bombing of African American churches in the South.
       In rereading this book as an adult, I found myself more emotionally invested in Kenny's feelings after the bombing than I had been as a child. Not that I didn't feel for Kenny in the 7th grade, but I'm not sure that I was able to fully connect with the real trauma and sense of confusion he feels. I think this book does a wonderful job of keeping the reader on their toes and laughing, while learning about the life of the Weird Watsons, while still teaching about a pivotal historical time period in a more serious and contextual way. As far as using this book in a classroom, I think it would make for a very strong read aloud novel. In my opinion this novel needs more to accompany it and set the context of the story than just handing it over to a young reader in which to indulge in. The Watons Go to Birmingham-1963 opens the door for further explanation and study of the Civil Rights Movement and for a comparison of how far we have come as a country in terms of being accepting toward everyone. The publisher recommends this novel to be taught with grades 4-8, but I think in order for the best possible teaching/learning experience to be had in the classroom, I would reserve it for 6th to 8th grade.

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