The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963
The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963. Christopher Paul Curtis, 1995. Delacorte Press.
An African-American little boy tells this story about his family in cold, cold Flint, Michigan, where his mama longs for the warmth of home in Alabama but his dad reminds her of the Jim Crow stuff they were glad to leave behind. Basic childhood stuff: a bully for a big brother, who will then turn around and defend him; worry about his appearance, his “lazy eye”; the excitement of preparations for a family trip to Birmingham, including the delight of a turntable that fits into the car where he can play “Yakkity-yak” as many times in a row as his parents will tolerate.
The road trip is an adventure, and meeting his grandma is a pleasure, but it's a dangerous world he has to learn to navigate. Laugh-out-loud funny, absolutely believable, Curtis manages to do some teaching in this story in ways that don’t feel contrived. Where has this author been all my life? He has a half-dozen other middle grade books out.
An African-American little boy tells this story about his family in cold, cold Flint, Michigan, where his mama longs for the warmth of home in Alabama but his dad reminds her of the Jim Crow stuff they were glad to leave behind. Basic childhood stuff: a bully for a big brother, who will then turn around and defend him; worry about his appearance, his “lazy eye”; the excitement of preparations for a family trip to Birmingham, including the delight of a turntable that fits into the car where he can play “Yakkity-yak” as many times in a row as his parents will tolerate.
The road trip is an adventure, and meeting his grandma is a pleasure, but it's a dangerous world he has to learn to navigate. Laugh-out-loud funny, absolutely believable, Curtis manages to do some teaching in this story in ways that don’t feel contrived. Where has this author been all my life? He has a half-dozen other middle grade books out.
