The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963

Book Description

Critics

• THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM --- 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

  by Christopher Paul Curtis Bantam ISBN: 0440414121 Ages 10-up 210 pages ... (read full critics)

  kidsreads published on Fri, 27 Aug 2010

2 Reviews

• Funmaker, Adam- Review: The Watson's Go To Birmingham-1963

  Name: Adam Funmaker

  Book Title : The Watson’s go the Birmingham - 1963

  1. What did you like about the book?

  There were several things that I liked about the book. I enjoyed the Father’s sense of humor throughout the entire book. He kept me laughing until the end. I really just enjoyed all the ch ... (continue)

  Name: Adam Funmaker

  Book Title : The Watson’s go the Birmingham - 1963

  1. What did you like about the book?

  There were several things that I liked about the book. I enjoyed the Father’s sense of humor throughout the entire book. He kept me laughing until the end. I really just enjoyed all the characters, I felt like I knew each one after I was done, the author painted a great picture of each characters personality. I also liked the seriousness of the content of the book, while it was light hearted in nature, the climax of the book brought into view the cultural and importance of this topic. So with that being said, I liked how the book concludes and brings into picture what is going on in this time in America, making it easy to connect to my specific content area, social studies. I also like the relationship of Kenneth and Byron throughout the book, at first it just seems like these are one dimensional characters, Kenny being the nerdy, smart, straight laced and Byron being the bully. As the story progresses we can see where Kenny has a bit of a wild side and Byron having this side where he really cares about his brother in-spite of him seeing so hard towards him.

  2. What did you dislike about the book?

  In the end I do not think that there was much that I did not like about the book. My one complaint that I can think of is that I wish there were more references to social and cultural problems. Those issues seemed to emerge more prevalently at the end of the story. Yes, there were mentions of southern culture throughout the book but maybe it could have been brought more the forefront for me.

  3. What connections did you make to the book?

  I made a big connection with the relationship of the brothers Kenny and Byron. I have three brothers myself and I feel like that type of relationship existed between me and my older brother and me and my younger brothers. I wanted to be like my older brother and I loved going where he was known because I would get special treatment just because he was known. I feel like that relationship existed even more so between my younger brother and I, because we were closer together in age and attended the same schools together. When we were younger I would be the crap out of him and not want him around, but as we got older I actually enjoyed him being around and felt the need to protect him.

  I also made a connection with the part where Mr. Watson surprises the family with a new record player in the big brown bomber. I made a connection with this because I saw my Dad in this. He loved new technology, I remember getting our first computer. My family and I took turns using America Online the same way that the Watson’s took turns listening the new record player

  4. How will you integrate this book into your classroom curriculum?

  I think that this would flow well into any section on the Civil Rights Movement. It is a simple, easy read that could be read over a weekend. This story can bring to light the vast social and cultural differences in this time from the North and the South. When Rufus and Cody move to Michigan they are treated very differently because they are from the South, and there are stereotypes that come with that. This would be easy to discuss in class, the stereotypes that certain people carry, are these fair? Are these true? Where do these come from? This book presents a great opportunity to discuss those issues.

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  Adfun7 said on Oct 4, 2011 | 1 feedback

• 

  The Watsons Go to Birmingham

  This book came highly recommended to me by a middle school teacher friend. The author makes the Watson family come vividly alive while also touching (lightly) on the racial unrest of the period. Expect to be transported right back to the 1960s when you read this book.

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  Readingrat said on Dec 28, 2007 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Paperback 224 Pages
• Edition: Reprint
• ISBN-10: 0440414121
• ISBN-13: 9780440414124
• Publisher: Yearling
• Pub date: Sep 08, 1997
• Dimensions: 1226 mm x 839 mm x 129 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Mass Market Paperback, Hardcover, Audio CD, Audio Cassette, School & Library Binding, Unbound and Others

Groups with this in collection

• MAT 6320 Fall 2011 (21)

Groups conversations

• Book Review Meganolson1240 (4 comments, 4 people)
• Book Reflection Aray4 (4 comments, 4 people)

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