Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
Watsons Go to Birmingham, The - 1963
Unavailable
Watsons Go to Birmingham, The - 1963
Unavailable
Watsons Go to Birmingham, The - 1963
Audiobook4 hours

Watsons Go to Birmingham, The - 1963

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

The Newbery and Coretta Scott King Honoree about the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan-from Christopher Paul Curtis, author of Bud, Not Buddy, a Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott Award Winner.

Enter the hilarious world of ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There's Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron, who's thirteen and an "official juvenile delinquent."

When 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.

AN ALA TOP TEN BEST BOOK
AN ALA NOTABLE CHILDREN'S BOOK
AN IRA YOUNG ADULT'S CHOICE
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW BEST BOOK
NAMED TO MULTIPLE STATE AWARD LISTS

"Every so often a book becomes a modern classic almost as soon as it arrives on bookshelves. That happened in the mid-'90s when Christopher Paul Curtis released his first book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963." - NPR

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJul 5, 2000
ISBN9780553750577
Unavailable
Watsons Go to Birmingham, The - 1963

More audiobooks from Christopher Paul Curtis

Related to Watsons Go to Birmingham, The - 1963

Related audiobooks

Children's School & Education For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Watsons Go to Birmingham, The - 1963

Rating: 4.149375696445725 out of 5 stars
4/5

1,041 ratings109 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Kenneth Watson tells the story of his family in 1963. They live in Flint, Mich. He, his mother, father, little sister, and ne'r-do-well older brother Byron. The book is episodic. Each chapter is almost a single short story unto itself. It isn't until about the last third of the book that going to Birmingham even comes up. And the bulk of the book is sort of fun, and funny, stories about Kenneth's childhood. In the last three chapters, things take a darker turn.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This novel tells the story of an African American family from Michigan in the early 1960s. The family decides to take a road trip down to Birmingham in order to drop off their eldest son at his grandmother's house. When they are in Birmingham, a church gets bombed which was a monumental moment in the American Civil Rights Movement.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    About a black family in Flint, Michigan traveling to Alabama one summer, and the culture shock of the deep south experienced by the children, as told through 4th-grader Kenny's point of view.Curtis is a great storyteller and his characters are so vivid. This one, though, didn't strike me as much as some of his other books. Still, a good read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I had many choices when it came to getting this book from our library, and I am glad I ended up taking the audio version with me on our recent vacation. I got to listen to it while traveling (ironically to a Star Trek convention) and simply became caught up in the storytelling, especially as it was performed by LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow and Star Trek: The Next Generation. This man simply has a way with storytelling that is memorizing and wonderful.This work of historical fiction ends with tragedy, but is so filled with family and humor up to that point that it is a perfect balance for young readers. It drives home the seriousness of civil rights events of the time without being too dark. It isn't disrespectful either, the author gives the characters a chance to reflect on what has happened let readers see how it changed their lives. Adults might also recognize some things in the drive to Birmingham which are good discussion points when talking about this book with children.Though this book takes place in a time of racism, it is more about coming of age, family, and coping with bullying than about racism specifically. I find it to be a good introduction to civil rights events for 5th and 6th grade readers.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    very well writen
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    i lilked this book
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is such an amazing and funny book!!! I love the history behind it too!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Watsons go to Birmingham has always been an important book to me because there is so much important history in the story. The Watson family sets out on a trip to Birmingham during the civil rights movement and one of the saddest moments in history. Students should read this book because it shows pivotal moments in the civil rights movement, and moves students to understand the stress of that time.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Reread this after many years and after seeing the Hallmark movie which portrayed events I'd forgotten (Grandma Sands' special friend Mr. Robert, for one). I'd also forgotten the humorous warmth of the Weird Watsons' portrayal and the love in the family that helps Kenny emerge from the trauma of witnessing the Birmingham bombing.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Very good YA book. I wish there had been a bit more flow between the chapters to finish some of the stories, but it almost reads like a journal. The treatment of the church bombing was a little fast for me, but I loved the idea of creating a relationship between the reader and the characters beforehand. I wish, too, the book had not limited negative treatment of blacks to the south, but showed it in other areas of the country. All in all, it was an enjoyable read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book has been around for a long time and taught in some elementary schools and I've finally gotten around to reading it.The Watsons are a very close family. Kenny is 10 years old, has an older brother named Byron and a younger sister named Joetta. Dad is very involved with his children and the first half of the book is mainly a series of anecdotes told from Kenny's point of view which show the character, love and sense of humor of the parents. At the halfway point it is decided that By is getting into too much trouble and needs to spend the summer with his very strict grandmother in Birmingham, Alabama. The whole family drives down to her house. A shocking event occurs which shatters their feeling of safety and innocence and ushers them into the civil rights era.A quick read for adults but full of humor and love to warm the soul.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read most of this a few years ago because my son had liked it so well. I read it again this week so that I could plan a 7th grade language arts unit around it. It is an excellent book to use as a class book for a number of reasons, but aside from that it is funny, and the fact that the tone throughout is humorous, the tragedy at the end of the book is even more poignant. Typically, I do not enjoy fiction written for children and adolescents, but this book is a fine exception.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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.Not as gripping to me as "Bud, Not Buddy" but still a wonderful middle-grade book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The Watsons are adorable and lifelike, and the historical fiction aspect of it is so minor that it's barely there at all. I loved seeing the "juvenile delinquent" characterized so realistically; I think middle-school-aged young adults would benefit from seeing the many facets of a personality like Byron's.

    There were a few boring parts, where the author really went overboard with the dad's characterization as overdramatic (while the kids were telling him to shut up, I was having the same response to the author), and some major plot glitches at the end, but the interesting and amusing parts certainly outweigh these drawbacks.

    Overall, I chuckled and enjoyed all of the characters who were not in any way the moral role models of so much award-winning young adult fiction, and this novel appears to have no obvious agenda, which I appreciate. What one does gain from it is a new human relationship behind a news story and an intimate look into a black family which can break down assumptions that the color of one's skin (or their behavior) can help one make a load of assumptions about that person's home life.

    The racism theme is not directly or substantially addressed. Major themes include coming of age, bullying, sibling rivalry, and family ties in general.

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Story about a family dealing with racism.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is very sad and definitely discusses the hard topic of racism. As I read, I was able to use some background knowledge to help me relate to the story better. I feel that this story should be read while students are learning about the history during this time period to help them understand it better. What I loved about this novel was the character development that Bryon had. He went from being a rebel and wanting nothing to do with his family to being there for his brother in a way that their parents were even reluctant to do. The story starts off slow; however, once they finally reach Birmingham, I was hooked. In addition, having this story told from the point of view of a child is very interesting because it allows for someone to see how a child may handle this situation and process it. Furthermore, young readers can relate better and can make connections with someone that is their own age. Despite how slow the story was for awhile, I enjoyed it and would definitely use it in my classroom.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    There are many reasons that I liked this book. I liked how the students that are reading this book based off of true events that happened in history. The language of this book is perfect for students because it allows students to relate to the different characters and by doing that they are able to better understand what is happening around the characters. The point of few allows students to connect to each character. I enjoyed how the book pushes the reader to learn more about the civil rights movement and how important that time is in our history. The students are able to learn about history while reading about characters their own age. I would recommend that a class read this book when learning about the civil rights movement.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book gave me mixed emotions, I liked some aspects of it while disliking others. The main idea of this book is to show readers that you can always count on family to get you through the tough times. One thing I did like about the book was how believable the family was. There was a typical trouble maker son, sweet innocent little girl, and the middle child that is just always a little lost. The mom and dad are always supportive and doing what's best for the family. I did not like how all the action was at the very end. It wasn't until half way through the book that they actually went to Birmingham. I could see this book losing the interest of readers. Another thing I did like was the variation of concepts the book covered. For example the book touched on bullying, Civil Rights, family, and faith. These are all great concepts for students to be thinking about and great for a literature circle.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I thought this was a great book. To start, the Watson family was comprised of very believable, well-developed, characters. The "weird" Watsons, as they are referred to, is relatable because every family is weird in some sort of way. Kenny, Joey, and Byron seem like a normal set of children where at least one, Byron, happens to be the kid who gets into a lot of trouble. I felt that the plot of the story seemed to plateau for a while. Byron was getting in trouble in Michigan, but I felt that the family should have gone to Alabama sooner and the story may have been a little better and captured my interest more. The characters were also relatable in the way that they spoke. The writing was very informal and colloquial, allowing me to read and understand it with ease. For example, this quote truly shows the believable love the characters in the family have for one another: "Your mother wasn't trying to make you the laughing "sock" of the whole school when she'd call you over in front of a bunch of your friends and used spit on her finger to wipe the sleep out of your eyes. Maybe it was magic powers that let you know she was just being Momma." The writing style is engaging and really pulls at my heart strings. However, there were a few parts of the story where description was lacking. The only part I could vividly imagine was the part about the church bombing, which really struck me as a reader. This book pushes readers to think about tougher issues, like African-American civil rights and broadens readers perspectives of a point in history. Overall, I really enjoyed this story and its main message that no matter where you are, you always have your family to keep you strong.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was a good read. Overall, I thought it was a pretty sad book to read though. I am not used to reading such sad, and realistic books. This book shows children how life was in the 1960s. What I thought was very interesting and great about this book is that it was told from a child's point of view which makes it easier for children to relate to. As I said, it is a sad read. Especially when the bombing of the church happens and they are not sure if the sister died or not. That is pretty much the only part of the book that has descriptive language that really enhances the text. Overall, I think it is a good book for children to read to give them a sense of what life was like in the 1960s and the main message was mainly to make children aware so this kind of thing does not happen again.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a great novel for children to read to help them understand about the 1960s. The book talks about a middle class black family and shows the adventures of their every day lives. I liked the characters and felt that they were relatable. I think that this book is also great because it gives students a different perspective and teaches them about history if they may not have previously learned about segregation. I also liked the book because the length of the chapters were perfect, they were not too short but also not too long. Overall I would recommend this book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Living in the north for an African-American boy in the 1960s was very different from living in the south during that time. "The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963" is a book that tells the story of just that. If you've ever wondered how living in someone like this' shoes, this is the book for you! Christopher Paul Curtis tells the story of the "Weird Watsons," the title that Kenny has given to his family. He thinks his family is weird, but doesn't every kid? his family has a whole cast of interesting characters, his brother Byron, who is high and mighty, stuck-up, and the school's biggest bully, Joey, Kenny's little sister who loves him no matter what, his "real Southern" mother, who dresses him up too warmly for each day at school, and his father, who loves his car and loves to play the records for his family. The opposite of Byron, Kenny is shy, defenseless, and gets bullied a lot. Byron always comes to his rescue. When Kenny's parents decide to send Byron to the south to "straighten him out," and live with his grandmother for the summer, the whole family drives the car down. One fateful morning when they are there, a bombing occurs at the church where Joey was supposedly at, and the family is sent into a frenzy. Only Kenny is brave enough to enter the church to see if he could find Joey, but to his shock, he sees something far worse: girls who have been killed by the blast. He runs away from the scene, and goes into hiding for months, until someone unexpected enters and helps him out of the rut. This is a wonderfully humorous, saddening, and all-around heart-felt book. Ride along Kenny and his family as they travel south, and cry along with Kenny's parents as they deal with hard things. Anyone with an interest in the Civil Rights Movement period in history should read it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This Realistic Fiction Multicultural story follows the Watson family through their every day lives. It introduces Dad and Mom Watson, Byron, Kenny, and Joetta in their home in Flint, Michigan. Kenny is the narrator of this story and he tells us everything that is happening at home and at school. It starts off when all of the kids are in elementary school at Clark Elementary. Byron who is the oldest, is the King of Clark. He is the main bully of the story, and everything that Kenny tells us about Byron is mostly just Byron getting into trouble. Kenny, the middle child, has trouble fitting in at school until a new kid, Rufus, moves in down the street. Joetta is the youngest and she keeps the family together and sane. Halfway through the book, Byron gets himself into trouble that he can't back out of, and his parents decide to send him to his Grandma that lives in Birmingham, Alabama. Here, the family stays for the summer hoping that Byron will learn his lesson, and he does. He changes for the better and actually becomes nice! Towards the end of the stay in Birmingham, Joetta decides to go to church with some of the neighbors. The same day, a bomb is set off in the church. The family can't find Joetta, so they all think that she died in the bomb. However, she shows up later that day with no recollection of what happened. The story ends with the Watson's driving back to Flint where Byron and Kenny rekindle their brotherly love and the family is whole once again.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I like this book for a few reasons. To begin, I like this book because of the big idea. This book is told from the perspective of a young African American growing up during the 1960's. He explains what life is like. The big idea is for the reader to become informed with how bad the Civil Rights Movement really became. I like this book because the characters are well-developed and some mysterious. Take for example Byron. He is a character who thinks he is the best and perfect human on Earth. When it comes to saving his brother's life, he has no problem showing his emotion. The change in character was interesting to see in Byron, the reader never really knew what to expect from him. As stated before, the point of view was wonderful for this story. By having it from the perspective of a young boy, the reader is not exposed to too much information about what is happening, but understanding it how someone at age 11 would understand the Movement. In the end of the book when Kenny goes into the church he feels surreal as an 11 year old should when seeing what he saw. The plot of the story is suspenseful. In the end of the story it became very intense when "whool pool" was introduced and when the situation happened at Joey's Sunday School in church. These events started to give the reader the idea of what was happening at this time. I wish there was a little bit more of information on the time period and what was going on rather than just the one event in the church to represent what was going on with the movement. Otherwise, this is an absolutely excellent novel with some great humor.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really enjoyed The Watsons Go To Birmingham. I thought that it was a interesting idea to have the 1960's seen from a child's perspective. I think it is a great book about growing up in a racist world along with incorporating historic events; such as the church bombings in Birmingham. I thought that the main character was very hard on himself when he thought he lost his sister in the attacks and then the whirlpool. This book offers a different perspective of a historical time for young children who are beginning to learn about segregation. Students will enjoy reading this book and appreciate the kindness of the main character Kenny.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a wonderfully hilarious look at family life during the Civil Rights Movement - though unlike most works dealing with the Civil Rights Movement, it focuses very little on the actual movement, and instead does a remarkable job on focusing on how simple family-life was. The characters were all exceptionally relatable and school-life is portrayed pretty realistically instead of as a hyperbolic absurdity or a rose-tinted yesteryear memory.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This is a juvenile novel depicting a black family in Flint, Mich. The 13-year-old boy bullies his 10-year-old brother (the narrator of the novel) and is turning into a juvenile delinquent so his parents decide to deliver him to his maternal grandmother who lives in Birmingham. Their time in Birmingham coincides with the Sept 15, 1963 church bombing and the narrator goes to the scene because his younger sister is at the church. This event of course mightily affects the family, and for reasons not explicitly spelled out in the novel the 13-year-old boy does not stay with his grandmother but returns to Flint, apparently cured of some of his meanness. The book may "speak' to its age group but I was underimpressed. I felt that the 13-year-old probably would have benefited from his grandmother's discipline and from being out of Flint..
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Watsons Go To Birmingham is a wonderful story about a quirky family that makes their way down south to visit their grandmother in a time of great racial prejudice. The book, on the outset, seems like a lighthearted tale of the "Weird Watsons" taking a trip in their "Brown Bomber", with the hilarious acting father playing DJ with their "Ultra-Glide" record player, but little do they know that they are headed towards a very important, but dark time in racial history.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This book was not my favorite. I found it to be tedious and drag on a bit. I liked the concept of the story, but I thought it would have more to do with civil rights and racism than the family itself. It was about a family, the Watson's, and how they ended up going to Birmingham Alabama and how it brought them together as a family. It was the parent's and their three children, Joey, Kenny, and Byron. Joey was the youngest daughter, Kenny was the middle awkward smart child, and Byron was the teenager who thought he was too cool for everything. Byron had been acting up and being a "juvenile delinquent" when his parent's decided it would be best for him to spend the summer in Birmingham to "straighten him out" with his grandmother. The whole family went there to take Byron, but one morning on their trip when Joey was a church, someone bombed the church she was in and everything changed. Kenny had seen the inside of the church while looking for Joey and was very scarred from it, even though Joey was alright. After that, the whole family went back to their home in Michigan and Kenny started acting very strange. He would go into the "world famous Watson pet hospital" behind his couch and barely come out except to go to the bathroom. This started to worry the family, and one day Byron finally said something o him. It was a touching moment for two brothers, and brought them together. This was where the story ended, and I didn't exactly like the ending because I didn't see the point of it. I did like the language in the story because I could picture the characters perfectly because of the slang they used while talking to each other. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to someone because I personally didn't like it. I think if it had more action in it and more of a purpose then I would have enjoyed it more.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I thought that this was a good book, but it wasn't my favorite by Christopher Paul Curtis. This is a book about a boy named Kenny and his family leaving for Birmingham, Alabama, to drop off the older brother who has been trouble. I really liked that this book really showed what the times were like in this era of American history and what it was like to be an African American family during this time. Christopher Paul Curtis did a really good job describing what everything was like that happened to the family. I loved the part when Kenny and the family are just getting to the grandma's house. The way that the grandma was described was hilarious and I think that this was my favorite part of the book. I also liked how the author showed how the family was affected by segregation during this time as well. Overall, I really liked this book and would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about American history during the Civil Rights Era or anyone who loves to read.