The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963

The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963

By Christopher Paul Curtis

43 ratings 56 reviews 71 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 3 - 7Grades 10 - 9U550225
A wonderful middle-grade novel narrated by Kenny, 9, about his middle-class black family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. When Kenny's 13-year-old brother, Byron, gets to be too much trouble, they head South to Birmingham to visit Grandma, the one person who can shape him up. And they happen to be in Birmingham when Grandma's church is blown up.


From the Hardcover edition.
Publisher: Thorndike Press Large Print
ISBN-13: 9781432850319
ISBN-10: 1432850318
Published on 1/3/2018
Binding: Paperback

Book Reviews (56)

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This book was good I guess

I was assigned The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 for reading, and upon finishing, I became no better or worse than I was before. It is neither bad or good. Or, it can be simply described as "above mediocre." This is a good novel with good lessons and such, but it's not something I would pick up and read. The characters are all lovable and changing; The characters are all believable and nicely described. It could be the most shining point of the book. Our characters go to Birmingham at a time where civil inequality was at its high point, right during the unfortunate Birmingham 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, where one of the characters, one of the most charismatic, is affected. This only unfolds in the last four chapters; The entirety of the book is just Watson misadventures, especially the brother Byron, dubbed a "child delinquent" and the younger brother, Kenny, from whom the perspective of the book comes from, who is dubbed, "Pointdexter." The beginning does a good job connecting our characters to the reader, and giving them life so they don't become cliches in the near future, where a potentially bad made-for-TV movie could lie... You'll enjoy the humor in the book, especially during the early chapters. Running jokes, moments to laugh, and it gets packed in a nice ending. The book is not perfect as we take too long to get to Birmingham which is the title of the book. The pace is slow, and we should've spent more time on Birmingham, since we blow right through it. It's either slow or fast, in that order. Read it if you're out of things to read. Otherwise, it can be passable.

It is fun.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys family humor. This book is about a boy named Kenny and he goes to Birmingham with his family. He gets to Birmingham in his dad's car that has a new Ultra Glide (a record player). His family mishaps, like too much peanut butter in the peanut butter sandwich. When they get to Birmingham, the church is bombed and their sister Joey barely escapes alive. This is a wonderful book and I hope you read it.

the only one who is weird is daniel. He said hes not going to get hooked on hill-billy music but he already got hooked on hill-billy talking. LOL!

angelinajolie angelinajolie

I love the watsons go to birmingham. It's my favorite book. I love it because it has a lot of diologe in it, and the fact that it is really detailed.

I haven't read the whole book yet but so far its ...good.

I just love this book! Talk about a family, love, and a little bit of lies. I am so surprised by this book that I think that it should be one of the most amazing books in the world. Really!

The Watsons Go to Birmingham is a phenomenal book although which is fictitious it incorporates the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing which was a major factor in the Civil Right Movement . The author incorporates a convincing portrayal of childs point of view during a traumatic experience,

It's so rich in history,and I can see the hole story form the eyes of an african american boy and his family

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