The Watsons Go to Birmingham --1963
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
Published: In by Delacorte Press
ISBN: 978-0440414124
Synopsis:
It's 1963 in Flint, Michigan during one of the coldest winter on record. Ten-year-old Kenny Watson and the rest of his "weird" family sit curled up together on their couch in an effort to survive the freezing temperatures --everyone that is, except his semi-delinquent older brother Byron who is just too cool for cuddling. Unfortunately, being too cool isn't Byron's only vice. He terrorizes his younger brother, is a bully at school and appears to care very little about the feelings of others --at least most of the time. This greatly confuses Kenny who is different from his older brother. In an effort to protect Byron from himself and his delinquent tendencies Kenny's parents, Daniel and Wilona, decide to take their three children, Byron, Kenny and Joetta on a trip to Birmingham, Alabama to visit their infamous Grandma Sands. Kenny's honest recounting of bits and pieces of everyday life in the Watson household exposes readers to the complexities of family relationships and the challenges people faced during the tumultuous era of the Civil Rights Movement.
My Reaction:
The Watson's Go to Birmingham --1963 surprised me. It wasn't at all like I expected based on reading the synopsis that said you would "enter the hilarious world of ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons." It might be because I don't have a great sense of humor, but there were very few incidents in this book that I found "hilarious" or even funny. The only one I can immediately call to mind, is when Kenny's brother Byron gets his lips stuck to one of the mirrors of their car. Thinking about this situation definitely made me chuckle, but at the same time I couldn't stop thinking about how terrible it would be to be the one in that situation. This was the same for a number of Kenny's stories, because they often involved Byron beating up Kenny or Byron getting in trouble for his rebellious actions. Overall, I feel the honesty in which Kenny describes these tales is crucial to the legitimacy of the story. The family's flaws brings the family into reality. They give the reader the opportunity to experience both the good and the bad natures of the characters. These imperfections, such as the gap between Wilona's teeth or the arguing between the two parents and Kenny and Byron's temperamental relationship makes the family seem both believable.
I love the book for showing the reader the real world and not trying to sugarcoat it. This is a crucial quality for creating historical or realistic fiction. The readers needs to connect to the characters as if they are alive. This is especially true in The Watson's Go to Birmingham --1963 because the climatic and tragic incident in Birmingham is more powerful when the reader can relate to the family bonds of the characters.
I love the book for showing the reader the real world and not trying to sugarcoat it. This is a crucial quality for creating historical or realistic fiction. The readers needs to connect to the characters as if they are alive. This is especially true in The Watson's Go to Birmingham --1963 because the climatic and tragic incident in Birmingham is more powerful when the reader can relate to the family bonds of the characters.
My Rating (1-5 stars): 
Still Curious:
Welcome to the Watson Family Radio Station!! Here are a few songs the character's in The Watson's Go to Birmingham --1963 mention throughout the book.
"Under the Boardwalk"
"Yakety Yak"
"They give the reader the opportunity to experience both the good and the bad natures of the characters." --> That was one of the most interesting things about this book for me - the fact that there were points throughout the book where you loved each character and where you also hated each character. For the majority of the book, I loved Kenny - but when he was being stubborn and headed to the Creek, I became frustrated with him and felt he would never learn. I hated Byron for the majority of the book, but once they got to Birmingham, he became my favorite character because of the supportive big brother he transformed into. I thought Joetta was adorable and precious, but that doesn't meant that I didn't want to tell her to stop being such a tattle-tale and protecting her brothers because it wasn't fair. Was I the only one annoyed with her at some points?
ReplyDeleteI also resonated with the part about Curtis not sugarcoating reality. I think that that made the book much more meaningful than it could have.
You definitely were not the only one who found Joetta annoying. As the story went on I began to find her more and more difficult to listen to. I think my feelings toward her mirrored Kenny's feelings when he realizes that she is "a little crybaby and a snitch... Every time you turned around she was threatening to go tell on you or was whining about something or being just a plain old pest," (195-196).
DeleteI also had a similar reaction to Byron. It was almost like he was two different people. Something that I found interesting was the fact that the story although told from Kenny's perspective, actually seemed to be more about Byron to me. What do you think?
could have been* (sorry for the typo!)
ReplyDeleteI thought the part when Byron got his lips frozen to the mirror was so funny. It reminded me of A Christmas Story, the one that loops for 24 hours on Christmas Day, when the little boy gets dared to put his tongue on the pole outside. I can't imagine how horrible that would be to be him though!
ReplyDeleteI like how you set up your blog and have the "Still Curious" section where you put the links to the music mentioned in the book, that's a cool idea.
I was annoyed by Joetta also, Kylee! She was a sweet little girl but it made me so mad how she was always tattling. When she spit on her mother's hand to blow the matches out five times in a row, it was a little too much for me. I'm glad Byron changed his attitude during the trip to Birmingham.
Thank you! I have a lot of fun trying to come up with interesting things to put in the "Still Curious" section.
DeleteDo you think it was important to emphasize the humor in the book to help balance the dark nature of certain elements in the book, such as his friend Rufus' lack of food and clothing and the bombing of the church in Birmingham?
Also, I completely agree with you about Joetta. Sometimes I feel she was icky sweet. Her character really expanded the spectrum of characters in the Watson Family. They had everything from delinquently bad to sickeningly good.
Well after I read something Denise posted, I realized that it seemed like a great way to emphasize the significance of the bad events in the story by having it start out lighthearted and humorous for the most part.
DeleteThe scene where Mama tries to intentionally burn Byron was completely beyond my comprehension- was it meant to be funny? I understand being frustrated with a kid...but burning him went too far. And at no point during her five attempts to light him did she realize it was a poor decision?
ReplyDeleteAnd Kylee- I agree wholeheartedly. Definitely fell in love with Byron.
That was definitely a disturbing scene. I was a little shocked that it was included at all. Usually when you read about instances of child abuse in stories it's to illustrate how neglectful they are. In this story this was definitely not the case. I decided to interpret it as a way of showing that nobody in the family was perfect. Everyone was capable of doing bad and unreasonable things. But I'm not really sure. I definitely didn't expect that scene.
Delete