WATSON GO BIRMINGHAM 1963

The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 - Wikipedia
OverviewPlotBackground and settingCharactersAuthor informationAdaptationsExternal linksThe novel is a first-person account narrated by Kenneth Watson, who lives in Flint, Michiganwith his parents, Daniel and Wilona Watson, his older brother Byron, and younger sister Joetta. The opening chapters establish Kenny as a very bright and shy 4th grader who has difficulty making true friends until Rufus Fry arrives in town from Arkansas. Rufus is also bullied by the students at Clark ElemenThe novel is a first-person account narrated by Kenneth Watson, who lives in Flint, Michigan with his parents, Daniel and Wilona Watson, his older brother Byron, and younger sister Joetta. The opening chapters establish Kenny as a very bright and shy 4th grader who has difficulty making true friends until Rufus Fry arrives in town from Arkansas. Rufus is also bullied by the students at Clark Elementary for his "country" clothes and accent, making Kenny reluctant to befriend him at first, but they are soon inseparable. Kenny is alternatively bullied and protected by his 13 year old brother Byron, whom he calls "an official teenage juvenile delinquent". Byron has been retained twice because he often skips school and is still in 6th grade. He invents a series of "fantastic adventures" which constantly get him into trouble and include playing with matches in the house and setting things on fire, abusing his parent's credit at the corner grocery store to buy himself treats, and getting a "conk" hairstyle against his parents' orders. Daniel and Wilona eventually become so frustrated with their inability to "straighten out" Byron that they decide to send him to Birmingham, Alabama to live with Grandma Sands (Wilona's mother) for at least the summer and possibly an entire year. As soon as the school year concludes, the Watsons ready their car ("the Brown Bomber") and embark on a road trip from Flint to Birmingham to deliver Byron to his grandma Sands. Kenny had been looking forward to the "battle royal" between his grandma and Byron, but is disappointed when just a few sharp words from the "old, old lady" have Byron speaking respectfully and generally behaving himself, causing Kenny to seek out his own "adventures". Grandma Sands had warned the children to avoid a particular local swimming holebecause of a dangerous "whirlpool", which Kenny misheard as "Wool Pooh" due to her thick Alabama accent. Kenny wants to swim there anyway, Read more on WikipediaWikipedia · Text under CC-BY-SA license
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Summary - Shmoop
Free summary and analysis of the events in Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 that won't make you snore. We promise.Chapter 1 · Chapter 9 · Themes · Chapter 7 · Chapter 5 · Characters