Another from NPR's Ultimate Backseat Bookshelf. 

When I saw the In Memory note at the beginning of the book, I knew whatever I had expected of this book was wrong. Parts were very difficult to read, mainly the end, but some of the family parts at the beginning. This was balanced out by the school scenes and most of the family dynamics in the book. There are a few mentions of an Uncle Bud which made me wonder if this book is related to Bud, Not Buddy, but if it is, nothing comes of the connection. 

The Watsons Go To Birmingham is a historical fiction book that should be introduced to every child in 4th or 5th grade. The story is about a family and their journey back to the south. The story takes place during 1963, and gives a perspective of what life was like during the Civil Wars era. I would use this book for fifth grade. It would be a great book to incorporate reading and history into one lesson. (Book Reading Level: Lexile 920L)

This is a book with many themes such as coming of age, society and morality. The narrator is a nine year old named Kenny Watsons. Kenny's family has to go south to Birmingham when Kenny's older brother gets in trouble. The family so happens to come into down when troubles of the civil rights movement was in full swing and their grandmothers church is in shambles Leveling system Lexile, reading level 920L. An activity a classroom can participate in is creating a time of the civil rights movement through the characters of the book.

The Watson's Go to Birmingham-1963 was first published by Christopher Paul Curtis in December of 1995. This story is about a family from Flint, Michigan. The story starts out telling the troubling experiences of the Watson kids (Byron, Kenny, and Joetta) at their school. After the parents have had enough, they announced that they would be traveling to Birmingham, Alabama, to visit their grandmother. One morning, Joetta also known as Joey, decides to attend church with some of her grandmothers friends. The church was the historical 16th Street Baptist Church located in Birmingham. While at church that day, a bomb exploded in the basement of the church. Needless to say, this story is based during the middle of the civil rights movement that was taking place here in the south. For an activity, I would have my students to choose a major event that occurred and was relevant to them. Ex) 9/11, major hurricanes, presidential elections. I would have the students to discuss how they felt or what they observed from their personal experiences. This book is on a 5.0 level according to the Accelerated Reader book leveling system.

The Watsons go to Birmingham is both a heart wrenching yet funny and relatable book about the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham. As someone who as grown up in Alabama my whole life, I remember reading this book and laughing at some of the mannerisms Grandma had because it was something that I had seen from other grandmothers around me growing up. However, it also covers the tragic 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham. This would be a great book to link to Alabama History or to read before a field trip to Birmingham to give students a context to what they will see on the trip and the history of the city. An activity that you could do with this book is having students link this book to a place in Birmingham and having them research their chosen place and present it to their classmates. 

Lexile Measurement: 920L