A funny family road trip from Michigan to Alabama runs straight into one of history's darkest days
A family trip into history
Ten-year-old Kenny Watson lives in Flint, Michigan, with his parents, his little sister, Joetta, and his big brother, Byron, who is thirteen and an official juvenile delinquent. When Byron's antics go too far, the family decides to drive south to Birmingham, Alabama, and leave him with strict Grandma Sands for the summer. They arrive in 1963, at a turning point in the civil rights movement.
Who will enjoy it
Middle-grade readers and families who want a funny, heartfelt story that opens a conversation about history.
What you will get
A laugh-out-loud family comedy that turns into a powerful, gentle introduction to the civil rights era, told by a kind, observant young narrator.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Children’s Books · Civil rights era · Family · Road trip
Length
224 pages · ≈ 7 h
More about this book
The Watsons are a loving, noisy family, and Kenny tells their story with great humor. In the freezing Michigan winter, Byron gets his lips stuck to the frozen car mirror while admiring himself, dyes his hair, and plays with matches, while Kenny tries to survive school with a lazy eye and a talent for reading. Their father loves jokes and their mother, who grew up in Alabama, still complains about the cold.
Fed up with Byron, the parents decide to drive to Birmingham in their old car, the Brown Bomber, now fitted with a record player, and leave him with his grandmother. The long road trip is full of family comedy, but as they travel south, the children learn about the rules of segregation. In Birmingham, the visit begins happily, until Kenny has a frightening experience at a swimming hole, and then a bomb attack kills four young Black girls in the community, an event drawn from real history. Kenny struggles to understand what he has witnessed, and it is Byron who helps him find his way back.
Warm, funny and moving, handled with care for young readers. About 224 pages in paperback.
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