In The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963, we meet a family who has been living in Flint, Michigan. Although they seem like a normal family, sometimes they do things that make others think they are "weird". One of the children in particular, Byron, always ends up doing things that get him in trouble. His parents finally decided that they would take Byron to stay with his grandmother in Alabama for a while. The visit to Birmingham Alabama ends up being like nothing they expected. The family is shocked when on one Sunday morning they witness the hate and violence targeted towards African Americans. Immediately the family returns to Flint, Michigan and try to deal with the realities that exists in the South. Although the author, Christopher P. Curtis, created the characters and a fictional story, they reflect events that are similar to what went on during this time in history. The plot and the setting in The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963, give a glimpse to readers of things that occurred prior to the Civil Rights Movement.
As an extension after reading this book, students can research an important person that helped during the Civil Rights Movement. Some examples would be Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, or some of the people mentioned in the epilogue of the The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963.
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