The Civil Rights Movement and The Watsons go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
For what I was expecting this book to be, it was
not.
The front cover of this book gives the idea that this story will be about an African American family that decides to take a trip to visit their grandma during "The darkest moments in American history."
I immediately recognized the date as directly in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement; for this, I thought much of the book would take place in Alabama detailing the Civil Rights Movement.
However, the family does not actually travel to Alabama until roughly about the last fifty pages of the book, and even with that there is a small portion that is dedicated to the struggles of the Civil Rights movement.
There is no build up for what does happen. I understand the power of surprise, which is how the event is presented, but there were only casual mentions of the history surrounding the South during the 1960s before this event.
If I did not have a strong rooting in American history, I believe that I would have been very lost during that one particular chapter.
If you are coming to this book hoping for a clearer understanding of the everyday life during Civil Rights movement, I would turn you instead in the direction of The Help. Though not a children's book for the violence, language, and themes within, that book delves more deeply into the struggles and details of the Civil Rights Movement.
The front cover of this book gives the idea that this story will be about an African American family that decides to take a trip to visit their grandma during "The darkest moments in American history."
I immediately recognized the date as directly in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement; for this, I thought much of the book would take place in Alabama detailing the Civil Rights Movement.
However, the family does not actually travel to Alabama until roughly about the last fifty pages of the book, and even with that there is a small portion that is dedicated to the struggles of the Civil Rights movement.
There is no build up for what does happen. I understand the power of surprise, which is how the event is presented, but there were only casual mentions of the history surrounding the South during the 1960s before this event.
If I did not have a strong rooting in American history, I believe that I would have been very lost during that one particular chapter.
If you are coming to this book hoping for a clearer understanding of the everyday life during Civil Rights movement, I would turn you instead in the direction of The Help. Though not a children's book for the violence, language, and themes within, that book delves more deeply into the struggles and details of the Civil Rights Movement.
However, for what The Watsons go to Birmingham--1963 really is about, I would say that it was a very thought provoking book.
Kenny Watson, the narrator, is in fourth grade as he relates stories about his family and himself. The stories are often humorous as he describes the relationship that he has with each member of the family.
Kenny describes Byron, his older teenage brother, as the "god" at school, but sadly describes himself as the kid that people would pick on because of his love for reading and his lazy eye.
Often the stories that Kenny relates about Byron are ones when Byron gets into trouble; a sly part of Kenny enjoys watching this and teasing By because so often Kenny is the one being teased mercilessly.
However, despite these adventures, Kenny subtlety reveals a deep reverence for his older brother, wanting to be like him. Though Kenny reveals that his younger five year old sister Joetta or Joey often whines and complains about things, he does deeply care for her; he does not want anything to happen to her.
Through the book, both of his relationships with his siblings develop into a richer sibling unity. As I was reading this, I thought about my own siblings both older than me.
We had our squabbles, and we got annoyed at each other (I even punched my sister when I was five because my sister would not let me into our room). However, through the years, our relationship grew closer, and now I consider them two of my closest friends, and I would never trade them for the world.
Kenny Watson, the narrator, is in fourth grade as he relates stories about his family and himself. The stories are often humorous as he describes the relationship that he has with each member of the family.
Kenny describes Byron, his older teenage brother, as the "god" at school, but sadly describes himself as the kid that people would pick on because of his love for reading and his lazy eye.
Often the stories that Kenny relates about Byron are ones when Byron gets into trouble; a sly part of Kenny enjoys watching this and teasing By because so often Kenny is the one being teased mercilessly.
However, despite these adventures, Kenny subtlety reveals a deep reverence for his older brother, wanting to be like him. Though Kenny reveals that his younger five year old sister Joetta or Joey often whines and complains about things, he does deeply care for her; he does not want anything to happen to her.
Through the book, both of his relationships with his siblings develop into a richer sibling unity. As I was reading this, I thought about my own siblings both older than me.
We had our squabbles, and we got annoyed at each other (I even punched my sister when I was five because my sister would not let me into our room). However, through the years, our relationship grew closer, and now I consider them two of my closest friends, and I would never trade them for the world.
In the epilogue that basically served as an author's note, Christopher Paul Curtis related the history surrounding the novel though only briefly mentioned.
He relates a real event that did happen in Birmingham in 1963 that paralleled the event in the book where sadly real teenagers died. He then states these girls' names.
The next sentence was probably the most powerful sentence in the entire book, "Although these may be nothing more than names in a book to you now, you must remember that these children were just as precious to their families as Joetta was to the Watsons or as your brothers and sisters are to you"(Curtis 209).
In this sentence, the author reveals the true sorrow of the Civil Rights movement. These people who were killed or hurt because of their skin color were members of someone's family.
These people will be remembered by them even if today they have become a statistic in a history book. These people were and are real.
Though the Civil Rights Movement played such a small role in this book, it brought to life the reality of history. The people who were involved in these attacks or movements had normal lives with families who loved them despite their differences. For this differing perspective on the Civil Rights Movement, I would recommend this book.
He relates a real event that did happen in Birmingham in 1963 that paralleled the event in the book where sadly real teenagers died. He then states these girls' names.
The next sentence was probably the most powerful sentence in the entire book, "Although these may be nothing more than names in a book to you now, you must remember that these children were just as precious to their families as Joetta was to the Watsons or as your brothers and sisters are to you"(Curtis 209).
In this sentence, the author reveals the true sorrow of the Civil Rights movement. These people who were killed or hurt because of their skin color were members of someone's family.
These people will be remembered by them even if today they have become a statistic in a history book. These people were and are real.
Though the Civil Rights Movement played such a small role in this book, it brought to life the reality of history. The people who were involved in these attacks or movements had normal lives with families who loved them despite their differences. For this differing perspective on the Civil Rights Movement, I would recommend this book.
A thoughtful review. As you suggested 'The Help' is the powerhouse of civil-rights era storytelling and quite the challenge to surpass, at least in terms of historical fiction for that time period.
ReplyDeleteSometimes a writer or book publisher will promote a book in a certain way to garner interest even though the promotion misrepresents the book. The merits of doing that are questionable because reviewers tend to punish the book for that.
Glad that you still found enough positive aspects in the story to give it a recommendation.