Kenny
Watson is a ten year old boy who tells a story about his family. Kenny and his family live in Flint, Michigan
with his parents, his older brother, Byron, and his little sister, Joetta. The Watsons love to make each other laugh and
always got into weird situations. Byron is a juvenile delinquent and a big
bully. He is always getting into
trouble. Byron is causing so much
trouble that his parents are having trouble raising him. They decide to take Byron to Birmingham,
Alabama to stay with Grandma Sands. She
is very strict, and they hope that she will be able to set Byron straight. Going to the South is a change of life style
for the family. The South was still very
much into segregation during the Civil Rights Movement. While in Alabama, they Watson’s experience
violence when a church was bombed. The family
thought their young daughter, Joey, was there.
They all ran to see if she was there, but they couldn’t find her. She had gone to the whirlpools with her brother
Kenny. Kenny had left her behind because
he thought that “Wool Pool” had gotten her.
When he got back, he heard about the church bombing. All of a sudden, Joey shows up. Kenny started
acting strange like hiding behind
couches and not talking. It was guilt
for having left Joey behind. Byron
started changing and became a caring older brother. He even helped Kenny come out of his
depression. This book is more of a historical fiction book. It incorporates the Civil Rights Movement and
how a family was impacted by it. The
following website includes some activities that can be implemented in class
with your students after reading this book:
http://www.walden.com/watsons-go-to-birmingham-7-creative-classroom-activities/.
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