 |
 |
Sign in/joinLanguage: English [ others ]
Over forty million books on members' bookshelves.
|
Loading... The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963by Christopher Paul Curtis
LibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendationsLoading...
won't like
will probably not like
will probably like
will like
will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. My favorite book of all time! I read this story aloud to my students every year and most of them cite it as their favorite book. We laugh and cry together throughout this wonderful story. This is a read aloud that students beg me to keep reading when I say time is up. I don't read the curse words, but give a little wink when I change a word. Students love this. (My way of not taking away from the integrity of the author's work, but not upsetting parents, either!) This is a must read for everyone!!!! (  )tzaleski | Jul 5, 2009 |   The Watsons Go to Birmingham, a story about an African American family during the early '60s, is filled with humor, honesty, sadness, and hope. The book is written with such specificity, playfulness, earnestness, and warmth that it's easy to feel a strong connection with different settings, the realistic characters of Kenny and his parents, and the ever-changing circumstances faced by the Watsons. vaillance | May 4, 2009 | This is a funny book that is mostly about growing up in Flint, Michigan. The family's roots are in Birmingham, Alabama. While most of the story is fun and silly and about relationships, the family experiences some frightening, difficult racial hatred along the way. Still, the story is not a story about hatred or merely coping, this is a story about the love that binds families, and growing up in America. It is very realistic "realistic fiction." (  )bkoopman | Apr 24, 2009 | A bit like a tv series, this book is hilarious at first, and then, in the same voice very grim. Most books about birmingham are all very serious. The more lighthearted beginning, followed by the historic event makes it very real, gives it great depth. ( )kdebros | Apr 19, 2009 | strange and at some parts funny (  )mulvihillt | Apr 16, 2009 | 0.015 seconds to build listing
Amazon.com (ISBN 0385321759, Hardcover)The year is 1963, and self-important Byron Watson is the bane of his younger brother Kenny's existence. Constantly in trouble for one thing or another, from straightening his hair into a "conk" to lighting fires to freezing his lips to the mirror of the new family car, Byron finally pushes his family too far. Before this "official juvenile delinquent" can cut school or steal change one more time, Momma and Dad finally make good on their threat to send him to the deep south to spend the summer with his tiny, strict grandmother. Soon the whole family is packed up, ready to make the drive from Flint, Michigan, straight into one of the most chilling moments in America's history: the burning of the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church with four little girls inside.Christopher Paul Curtis's alternately hilarious and deeply moving novel, winner of the Newbery Honor and the Coretta Scott King Honor, blends the fictional account of an African American family with the factual events of the violent summer of 1963. Fourth grader Kenny is an innocent and sincere narrator; his ingenuousness lends authenticity to the story and invites readers of all ages into his world, even as it changes before his eyes. Curtis is also the acclaimed author of Bud, Not Buddy, winner of the Newbery Medal. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:09 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
Abebooks |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
