Book Review - The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christoper Paul Curtis

I had the amazing opportunity to hear Christopher Paul Curtis speak last Friday; he gave the annual Zena Sutherland lecture at the Chicago Public Library. Sitting in the audience, I realized I was maybe the only one there who hadn't read any of his books. So I rectified that immediately, reading his first novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 in one sitting yesterday.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret -- historical fiction can be funny and casual and anecdotal all at the same time. In some ways, the beginning of the book reminded me of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. You've got your main character, Kenny (read: Greg), being somewhat tortured and threatened by his big brother, Byron (read: Rodrick). The author completely sucks you into the world of these characters (1963 Flint, Michigan) by showing you their day-t0-day life, whether its toiling in school, snowball fights, or dinosaur wars. The real heart of the book is explored more in its second half, which follows the weird Watson family as they pile into their car and head south, to Birmingham, Alabama. And it's there that Kenny really starts to grow up. His mom told him and Byron that things were different down south for African-Americans, but it doesn't fully hit him until he hears the sound. A bomb hitting a church full of African-American children. What happens next is something only a very deft writer can accomplish, but it's the lump-in-your-throat kind of ending that really tugs at your heartstrings, the same way the beginning had you laughing out loud.

Christopher Paul Curtis was awarded the Newbery Honor, as well as the Coretta Scott King honor, for this, his first book, and it's easy to see why.

Recommended to: fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, anyone who's interested in learning more about the 1960s, and fans of Walter Dean Myers and Jacqueline Woodson