Historical Fiction-Review3

1.BIBLIOGRAPHY
Curtis, Christopher Paul. 1995. THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM-1963. New York: Delacorte Press-Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. ISBN 0385321759

2.PLOT SUMMARY
The Watson family is comprised of Momma, Dad, Byron, Kenny, and Joetta. They are a normal, black family living in Flint, Michigan during the 1960s. The eldest son, Byron, is a 13 year old teenager who is often getting in trouble amidst the many warnings from his parents: playing with matches, chemically relaxing his hair to look like “Mexican-style hair”, signing out for “free” food from the neighborhood market, and bullying others including his younger brother, Kenny. Kenny, a fourth grader, is supposed to be “smart” but he often doubts this because he can’t understand the volatile behaviors of his older brother and sometimes grown up decisions. Joetta is the youngest and is sweet, sentimental, and overprotective of Byron.

During the summer of 1963, Momma and Dad decide it is time to visit Grandma Sands back in Alabama, Momma’s hometown. They are tired of Byron’s mischievous and dangerous deeds and they want to have grandma help straighten him out. Grandma Sands was Momma’s mother and the children had always heard stories of how strict she was. As Kenny described it: “The thought of living with her was so terrible that your brain would throw it out as soon as it came in.”

Finally the family arrives in Alabama and has to adjust to the changes in dialect and weather. The toughest part to adapt to, however, is the experiencing of hatred and discrimination that was lived in southern states during that time period. A great scare and disbelief comes one Sunday morning when a church is bombed allegedly by white men. The family is terrorized temporarily because they fear that Joetta, who had gone to church that morning, had been killed. Fortunately, Joetta had not been inside the building at the time of the crime. Strongly affected, the family returns to their home in Flint, Michigan.

3.CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This historical fiction novel is precisely what young adult readers need to relive history through a text that is enticing at the same time. Each of the children’s personality is revealed through their actions and the reader is able to identify with many of these. It was refreshing to read the foolish, teenage dialogue used by Byron and his friend and the amusing proceedings that often times left Kenny thinking they might as well have tied him up and said “Ready, set, fire!” Not surprisingly, their adventures and humorous family interactions have won this family the nickname of “Weird Watsons”.

The descriptions of the setting and time period are subtle enough as to not be overpowering and detract from the humorous ordeals and the historical time period.
There are brief reminders of World War II as when Byron is lighting up toilet paper parachutes and Nazi soldiers in the house bathroom. However, the strength of the setting is delivered through the Watson’s family involvement in one of the church bombings that were a reality for southern states during that time period. Although the event was fictitious for this family, I was able to visualize the events through the author’s words. After one of the bombs went off the church was full of “smoke and dust flying around like a tornado was in there.” Furthermore, the authors describes the bibles, coloring books, and children’s shiny black shoes laying motionless while men who looked like they had “been painting with red, red paint” hurried to carry out those who had been harmed.

There seem to be several possibilities for themes; however, the strongest one for me is that of family life and the coming together through adversity. Byron who has always been a tough teenage bully, deceiving and picking on Kenny throughout the story, experiences an uncovering of family love and bonding with Kenny after the bombing. He asks Kenny to cry to relieve his pain and then tries to explain to him that those acts were unfair and were caused by somebody who had let “hate eat them up and turn them into monsters.” Byron tries to soothe his little brother by telling him that nobody will hurt him there.

On the other hand, Joetta, sobbed tragically while trying to intervene with Momma and Dad every time her older brother was going to be punished. She new he had done bad and often tried to keep him out of trouble, but he never listened.

4.REVIEW(EXCERPTS)
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL-“Ribald humor, sly sibling digs, and a totally believable child's view of the world will make this book an instant hit.”

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY STARRED, BOXED REVIEW- “An exceptional first novel.”

HONR BOOK MAGAZINE STARRED REVIEW- “Superb . . . a warmly memorable evocation of an African American family."

NEWBERRY HONOR BOOK

CORRETA SCOTT KING AWARD


5.CONNECTIONS
-History: Study of Civil Rights Movement or celebration of Black History Month
-Use a Web Quest for this title from the several available online.
-Write a letter to the author with questions or comments about the book.
-Interview someone from your community who lived during the 1960s.