The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963

Books came within two days and were brand new as promised!

Good.

Bueno

My 8 year old and I listened to this audio book. It's told from the perspective of a boy about my son's age. There are some too silly parts, like an older brother who gets his tongue stuck on a frozen rear view mirror, and installing a record player in a car. Both seem unrealistic to me. There are also some "older brother's language" issues (cussing or referring to cussing), and references to the middle finger salute, which I could have done without. The mother threatens to burn the older brother who is caught playing with matches again. Otherwise the family is likable and the story held our interest. When the older brother is getting into too much trouble the parents plan a trip to Birmingham Alabama, where they plan to leave him with Grandma. When they get there things don't seem the same as the old days growing up there. Desegregation is causing hostilities and violence which the family has to deal with. This part of the story is handled in an unusual way. We see things thru the eyes of a young boy who has some life threatening experiences and we experience some of his delusions, fear and grief he feels. In the end the big brother who was a problem earlier now feels compassion and concern for his little brother and helps him deal with his feelings. So some parts are not so great, but then maybe life is like that. We see some of the less appealing parts of this family and end up loving them anyway. I still recommend it.

Great book for all ages.

Mi hijo le pide. En la escuela y lo recomiendo mucho llega enseguida y muy buena la calidad

The Watsons go to Birmingham -1963 was overall my favorite book of 2016. I just recently read the book in my seventh grade reading class. Personally I thought the novel was a eye-opening, heart-warming, page-turning book. The way the whole book was laid out was brilliant, all of the characters played such an important part in the novel. For example, Byron is a juvenile delinquent, but a softie at heart. In the book when Kenny, Joetta,and By went swimming Joey, and Byron listened to Grandma Sands, and stayed away from Collier’s Landing. Kenny, on the other hand, did not. Before Kenny went swimming Byron told Kenny, and Joetta this long story about Winnie the Poohs evil twin brother, the Wool Pooh. Once Kenny went swimming he got caught in the whirlpool. When Kenny got caught Byron came running after Kenny and jumped in after him. Under the water Kenny thought Byron was the Wool Pooh, and started trying to fight him off. Luckily, Byron was stronger Kenny and managed to pull him back up out of the water. When he did Byron was kissing Kennys head and thanking god that he got there in time. The chapter “I Meet Winnie's Evil Twin Brother, the Wool Pooh” is an amazing way to show how Byron and Kenny feel towards each other. Its also a great example to show how complex Byron's personality is. I also loved how Christopher Paul Curtis came up with all of these family moments that not only brought them closer together but made YOU feel like YOU’RE in the book watching them! The last thing i'm going to add on to my comment is that I would recommend this novel too other young kids my age. It’s an amazing book that you’ll never want to put down!

I would recommend this book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963, to readers that like a fun, family oriented books. The most funniest part of the book to me is when Byron kisses his reflection and gets his lips stuck. The Watsons is a crazy close-knit family; it also reminded me of my family. Byron reminds me of my older brother; he always teases me and pushes me around just like Byron did with Kenny. Another reason I enjoyed this book is because Mrs. Watson reminded me of my own mother. Mrs. Watson is a strict, yet a loving mom. She uses experiences from her childhood to protect her own children. For example, Byron liked to play with fire. Because Mrs. Watson's house caught fire as a child, she reacted strongly when Byron played with fire by scaring him by trying to burn his finger. Even though the family went through tragic things, like when Kenny almost drowned in the whirl pool and when the bomb went off in the church, they still stuck together.

It is a good book. I wonder if the wool pooh was or is real. I feel sorry for Kenny.

I bought this book for my son to read and he could not put it down. He read it twice. So borrowed it from him and i think it a great read also.

What a great book. At first I thought the title was misleading but they sure did go to Birmingham and they sure experienced it. I wanna read more stories like this.

It is so hard to find a good book for young readers. My son is 12 and he does like stories about orphans or monsters. This is the story about a nice family that looks like many other nice families (the tough oldest son included). However, the scene takes place in 1963, and bad things were happening in Birmingham in 1963. The book is nonetheless full of humor. It is extremely well written, with lots of dialogues and situations that are very well captured. My son and I had a good laugh together even if at the climax we didn't want to laugh anymore. A must be read book! Excellent!

I read this book with my kid, what a amusing, engaging read it was... and what nuggets of wisdom strewn all over the book.. We are going to miss the Watson's for sure...