The Watsons Go To Birmingham- 1963
By: Christopher Paul Curtis
Told from the viewpoint of fourth grade Kenny Watson, The Watsons Go To Birmingham is a delightful look into the world through the eyes of a child. The story begins on a cold Michigan day with the Weird Watsons cuddled together on the couch, dreaming of sunny Atlanta, Georgia.
The majority of the book is spent leading up to the family's decision to visit Grandma Sands to deposit teenage rebel, Byron Watson, in Birmingham, AL, as the title suggests. It details the family's past and includes stories, often humorous, of life in the northern US in 1963.
When I began reading this book, I was expecting a gripping story about the struggle, tragedy, and fight for Civil Rights in the early 1960s. Instead, I found a charming, humorous narrative about a family's road trip to north Alabama.
At first, I was disappointed. I knew ahead of time that this story was based upon the infamous bombing of a church in Birmingham. I was waiting and waiting throughout the whole book for it to happen, for the Watson's lives to change dramatically.
But as the remaining pages for me to read grew less and less, I quickly discovered that the story was not what I had anticipated.
However, once I changed the way I looked at the story, I enjoyed it much more. Even though it was much better after that, a few scenes were confusing and hard to understand.
When you read The Watsons Go To Birmingham, open your mind. Prepare yourself for a story celebrating family and togetherness. Expect the tale of how a tragic event can change a persons life.
When you read The Watsons Go To Birmingham, open your mind. Prepare yourself for a story celebrating family and togetherness. Expect the tale of how a tragic event can change a persons life.
Perhaps the heart of The Watsons Go To Birmingham is best summed up in this excerpt from the last chapter. Kenny, emotionally scarred from the bombings, has been hiding away behind the couch for days, a place where the kids have seen their animals crawl behind and emerge healed. They believe that there are angels and genies behind the couch that do the healing. Byron has just told Kenny that there are no such things as genies and magic. This is Kenny's response:
"He was also very wrong about there not being anything like magic powers or genies or angels. Maybe those weren't the things that could make a run over dog walk without wobbling but they were there. Maybe they were in the way your father smiled at you even after you'd messed something up real bad... Maybe there were genies in the way your sister would throw a stupid tea party for you and you had fun even though it was kind of embarrassing to sit at a table and sip water out of plastic teacups... And I'm sure there was an angel in Birmingham when Grandma Sands wrapped her little arms around all of the Weird Watsons and said, 'My fambly, my beautiful, beautiful fambly.'"
Overall, The Watsons Go To Birmingham is a tragically delightful yarn, worth a read. So turn on Yakety Yak, board the Brown Bomber, and settle down for a long haul to Birmingham.
"He was also very wrong about there not being anything like magic powers or genies or angels. Maybe those weren't the things that could make a run over dog walk without wobbling but they were there. Maybe they were in the way your father smiled at you even after you'd messed something up real bad... Maybe there were genies in the way your sister would throw a stupid tea party for you and you had fun even though it was kind of embarrassing to sit at a table and sip water out of plastic teacups... And I'm sure there was an angel in Birmingham when Grandma Sands wrapped her little arms around all of the Weird Watsons and said, 'My fambly, my beautiful, beautiful fambly.'"
Overall, The Watsons Go To Birmingham is a tragically delightful yarn, worth a read. So turn on Yakety Yak, board the Brown Bomber, and settle down for a long haul to Birmingham.
