Title: The Watsons Go To Birmingham
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
Pages Read: 0-224
Prompt: Summarize what you read
The Watsons live in Flint, Michigan. All the kids go to Clark Elementary. Byron is in sixth grade and he's the bully everyone is afraid of. Kenny who narrates the story is in fourth grade and their little sister Joetta also known as Joey is in kindergarten. Kenny gets picked on by the bullies at school, especially Larry Dunn, the bully of fourth grade. Things are bad for Kenny until this kid Rufus moves in. Rufus is poor and raggedy. He also talks with a Southern accent so at first Kenny is happy that the kids will have someone new to bully. But instead Rufus and Kenny become friends. The school year goes on and Kenny keeps about mostly Byron getting into trouble. He beats up Larry Dunn, he sets things on fire, and he kills a bird with a cookie.
He gets his parents really frustrated. Then Byron gets his hair chemically straightened without permission so Dad shaves Byron's head bald. Momma and Dad announce that the whole family is going to take a trip to Birmingham. They will see Grandma Sands, and Byron is going to have to stay with her for the whole summer or until he learns to behave. Grandma Sands is really strict, and Byron is not exactly thrilled about this plan. Down at Grandma Sands's house Byron starts being nice. One day the kids decide to go swimming, but Grandma Sands warns them to stay away from Collier's landing where there's a dangerous whirlpool where boy drowned.
Kenny wants to go see Collier's Landing anyway, but Byron says they should listen to Grandma. This time it's Kenny who doesn't listen. He nearly drowns and Byron has to save him. A few days later, Joey goes to church with the neighbors. A bomb goes off in the church. The whole family runs down to find her but they can't find her anywhere. Joey shows up back at the house wondering where everyone is. She explains that she thought she saw Kenny waving at her outside the church, so she left to follow him and missed the whole thing. That night the family packs up and goes back to Flint. Everyone is upset about the bombing but Kenny is having the toughest time.
I commented on Gabe, Citlalli, and Carlos.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good blog post. I didn't read this but from my past knowledge, I know about the bombing. I think it's really sad but this book seems interesting. Good job.
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