The Watson Go to Birmingham-1963

Curtis, C. (1995). The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963. New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group.

Ten year old Kenny Watson lives in Flint, Michigan with his family.  Kenny's mother is from Alabama and thinks that Birmingham is a better place to live than ice-cold Michigan.  Kenny's older brother, Byron, is always getting into some type of trouble or another.  Finally, Kenny's parents have had enough of Byron's antics and decide he needs to spend the summer in Birmingham with his grandmother.  The whole family loads into their car and makes the trip down South.  While there, they experience the horror of a church bombing where their little sister Joetta attends Sunday school.  Though their sister survives the bombing, four little girls are killed and others are injured.  Kenny is devastated by the  violence against African Americans in the South.

This book reminds readers of the horrible events that occurred in the South in the 1960's.  Segregation and racism are both underlying themes in this story. The bombing of the church in the story mirrors the real bombings that actually happened in Birmingham during the Civil Rights Movement.  Another common theme in this story is the love of family and siblings.  Even though Kenny's brother Byron is a bully and is frequently hitting him, there is no doubt they truly love each other and their sister.