NPR's Back-Seat Book Club January Selection

Submitted by angela on December 21, 2011 - 5:28pm

NPR's Back-Seat Book Club for 9 to 14-year-olds has announced their selection for January: The Watsons Go To Birmingham – 1963.

The Watsons Go To Birmingham – 1963 is the award-winning story of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, who take a trip to Alabama in the summer of 1963. Young readers will relate to Kenny, the 10-year-old narrator of the story – his authentic observations and reactions really bring the experiences of an African American family in the 1960s to life. As NPR says, "This book has the ability to entertain and inform young readers as the country remembers the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. for the national holiday in his name."

You won't want to miss this exceptional book. It's sure to encourage great conversation between you and the young people in your life, and you'll definitely have questions for the author, Christopher Paul Curtis, who wrote this book (his first) while working in an automobile plant in Flint.

Learn more on the NPR website and stay tuned for Christopher Paul Curtis answering questions on All Things Considered at the end of January!

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 9, 2012 - 11:15am.

I LOVE this book! It's a wonderful family story, warm and loving. It has food for thought but is still an easy, enjoyable read. I'm sorry you gave away the ending, though. The book is powerful because you never see it coming. Maybe I am speaking out of turn, and the book jacket gives away the ending; if that's the case, then I'm sorry for taking you to task.

Submitted by angela on January 9, 2012 - 11:18am.

You're right, I did! I apologize and will remove that from my post.