Booking with Simon: The Watsons go to Birmingham

By Christopher Paul Curtis

This is another book I picked up in New York City when I was over there earlier in the year. It's also on that list of books to be enjoyed before you grow up.

And what a great read it is. The cover actually looks like it was written in 1963 but that's not true at all, it was first published in 1995 and and the TV movie appeared in 2013.

It begins gentle enough, from the 'cross-eyed' middle child of the Watson family and how he struggles with his teenage-delinquent older brother and the tell-tale little sister. But as we read we discover that the connection and love runs deep in the siblings.

Synopsis

Enter the hilarious world of ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons from Flint, Michigan.
There's Momma, Dad, little sister Joett, and brother Bryon, who's thirteen and an "official juvenile delinquent."
When Momma and Dad decide it's time for a visit to Grandma, Dad comes home with the Ultra-Glide, ad the Watsons set out on a trip like no other. They're heading south. They're going to Birmingham, Alabama, toward ome of the darkest moments in America's history.

Author

Christopher Paul Curtis is an American writer of children's books. He is known for the Newbery Medal-winning Bud, Not Buddy and the critically acclaimed The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963. Wikipedia