Historical Fiction: The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis (Chapter Book)

From the very first chapter I could tell that the Watsons are a loving and caring family. They are all sitting on the couch huddled together under a blanket trying to keep warm. The mom is convinced that they are going to freeze to death. The story is told through the eyes of ten year old Kenny Watson. Kenny thinks that everyone thinks his family is strange and that why they are called the “Weird Watsons”. Kenny is often teased but since his brother is older, he doesn’t receive as much tormenting as his brother. Kenny is becoming a “juvenile delinquent” when he continues to get in trouble and do things that they warn him not to such as play with fire, they feel he needs to visit his grandmother in Alabama in fear of losing him. So they head to Alabama during one of the most terrifying events in history. When his sister leaves to go to Sunday school, he hears a loud boom and notices how everyone runs towards the church that his sister is in. When he goes inside he picks up a shoe that he thinks looks like hers and goes back home. Even when she comes in the house and speaks to him, he thinks its her ghost. When they return home, back to Flint, Michigan his parents talk about the accident when they think no one is listening. For some reason, he feels guilty and all of these emotions run over him. However his brother is there to comfort him during this time and he’s able to get his self together. This would be a great book to talk about the bombing of the four little girls and the struggles of African Americans. The students would be able to get a closer look at the event and how it affected many people for a long time.