When the Watson family--ten-year-old Kenny, Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron--sets out on a trip south to visit Grandma in Birmingham, Alabama, they don't realize that they're heading toward one of the darkest moments in America's history. The Watsons' journey reminds us that even in the hardest times, laughter and family can help us get through anything.
"A modern classic." --NPR
"Marvelous . . . both comic and deeply moving." --The New York Times
"One of the best novels EVER." --Jacqueline Woodson, Newbery Honor and National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming
Bonus Content
- New foreword and afterword from the author
- Map of the Watsons' journey
- Original manuscript pages and letter from the Newbery committee
- Personal essays celebrating the book's legacy by award-winning authors Jacqueline Woodson,
Varian Johnson, and Kate DiCamillo
Christopher Paul Curtis grew up in Flint, Michigan. After high school he began working on the assembly line at the Fisher Body Plant No. 1 while attending the Flint branch of the University of Michigan. He is now a full-time writer. He lives with his family in Windsor, Ontario.
"This is a book that changes lives. It certainly changed mine." --Kate DiCamillo, two-time Newbery Medalist
"I identify with so much in Christopher Paul Curtis's engrossing classic, The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963." --David Barclay Moore, winner of the Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award for New Talent
"An exceptional first novel."--Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Superb . . . a warmly memorable evocation of an African American family." --The Horn Book Magazine, starred review
"Ribald humor . . . and a totally believable child's view of the world will make this book an instant hit."--School Library Journal, starred review