The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963
| Author | Christopher Paul Curtis |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Genre | Realistic fiction |
|
Publication date
|
1995/1997/2000 |
| OCLC | 32133739 |
| LC Class | PZ7.C94137 Wat 1995 |
The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 (1995) is a historical-fiction novel by Christopher Paul Curtis. First published in 1995, it was reprinted in 1997. It tells the story of a loving African-American family living in the town of Flint, Michigan, in 1963. When the oldest son (Byron) begins to get into a bit of trouble, the parents decide he should spend the summer and possibly the next school year with Grandma Sands in Birmingham, Alabama. The entire family travels there together by car, and during their visit, tragic events take place.
The book was adapted for a TV movie of the same name, produced in 2013 and aired on the Hallmark Channel.
Although the Watson family is fictional, the characters are based on members of the author's family. He based the events on those of his childhood, especially in the first part of the book. Events later in the story center on the historic 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, soon after the civil rights protests had gained negotiation with white city leaders for integration. The bombing was a catalyst for increased activity in the African American Civil Rights Movement and work on voter registration in Mississippi, during Freedom Summer of 1964.
The story is based in Flint, Michigan, and focuses on narrator Kenny Watson and his family - his parents, his older brother Byron - an "official juvenile delinquent" - and his little sister Joetta. Byron is caught by his mother playing with matches in the house (despite having been warned repeatedly not to do it), which seems to be part of a pattern of misbehavior. The parents decide that Byron should live with Grandma Sands in Birmingham, Alabama, for the summer and possibly the next school year. The family begins a roadtrip to take Byron to Birmingham. However, shortly after they arrive, Kenny witnesses the bombing of their grandmother's church, and that the family decides to return home, with Byron, in an attempt to avoid explaining the full implications of what has happened to the children.
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