Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

1996 Newberry Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Book, ALA Top Ten Best Book, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, ALA Notable Children’s Book, IRA Young Adult’s Choice, The Jane Addams Peace Award Honor Book, A Booklist 25 Top Black History Picks for Youth, An NCSS-CBC Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, Bank Street Child Study Association Children’s Book Award, A New York Times Book Review Best Book, A Publishers Weekly Best Book, A Horn Book Fanfare, A Bulletin Blue Ribbon, A Golden Kite Award for Fiction, Winner of the California Young Reader Medal

Ratings Explanation

Language: Hell, Damn, Ass, Diety, “…we all heard him say, real clear, the “S word”.  “Byron flips Kenny a dirty finger sign, Byron flips double middle fingers and a finger sign that Kenny has never seen before.”

Violence: Byron bullies Kenny at home.  Larry Dunn bullies Kenny at school, giving him “Maytag (face) Washes” in the snow.  Byron and Buphead bloody Larry Dunn’s nose as they repeatedly throw him into a chain link fence as a crowd of kids cheer them on.  Rufus, Kenny’s friend, and his younger brother, Cody, recount their squirrel hunting with a .22.  Byron kills a bird with a Swedish Creme cookie.  Momma burns Byron’s hand to punish him for lighting matches.  Kenny nearly drowns in a whirlpool at Colliers Landing, where six other children have drowned.  A church building in Birmingham, Alabama is bombed and 4 girls die.  Kenny witnesses the aftermath of the bombing, as the bloody young girls’ bodies are brought out of the church building.  Kenny suffers from shock and depression.

Sexual Content:   ” Dad reached over past Momma to start the car, but on the way his hand kind of accidentally on purpose brushed her chests. Boy, did they think we were blind?  Even though Dad thought he was being slick, everybody saw this.”  Mr. Robert studs his coon dog.

Adult Themes: Racial prejudice that led to the Civil Rights Movement (ie”Coloreds Only” Bathroom, Swimming Pool etc.).  The Watson’s stop at a rest stop in Tennessee at night on the drive to Alabama and they are all afraid, “Man, they got crackers and rednecks up here that ain’t never seen no Negroes before.  If they caught your ass out here like this they’d hang you now, then eat you later.”  Kenny is so scared that he feels a couple of warm drips of urine dribble down his leg.  The church in Birmingham is bombed because,  “Two grown men hate Negroes so much that they’d kill some kids just to stop them from going to school?”  Kenny faces ridicule because he has a lazy eye.  Rufus and Cody have raggedy clothes and no food for lunch each day. Dad Watson shaves Byron’s hair when he straightens it to have “Mexican Hair”.

Synopsis

Ten-year-old Kenny Watson and his family, “The Weird Watsons” live in Flint, Michigan.  Kenny has a younger sister, Joetta, and a thirteen-year-old brother, Byron, who is an “official juvenile delinquent”.  Kenny struggles to avoid being bullied by Byron at home and bullied by classmates at school.  Kenny is a brilliant young boy, who longingly desires a friend.  He is elated to have Rufus, the new guy, be his friend.  Byron is a magnet for trouble.  As a last resort, the Watson’s take a road trip to Birmingham, Alabama, the home of Grandma Sands.  Momma and Dad arrange to leave Byron with strict Grandma Sands for the summer, and possibly the next school year to encourage Byron to improve his decision making abilities. While in Birmingham, a church building is bombed and four little girls are killed, many are injured.  Kenny witnesses the aftermath of the bombing and struggles to comprehend racial prejudice and the violence surrounding the Civil Rights Movement.

I first read this book about ten years ago, as a new mother – and loved it!  Our family listened to “The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963” on CD while on a road trip last year.  This book was an incredible way to introduce my children to the racial inequality that led to the Civil Rights Movement.  My children were stunned to learn this is part of our American History.  As I read this book again last week, I am impressed by the author’s ability to weave a humorous and captivating family story into the historical context of the Civil Rights Movement.  I highly recommend “The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963”.

©2009 The Literate Mother