Change, Coming of Age, and Maturity
In The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, 10-year-old Kenny Watson watches his older brother, Byron, transition into adolescence. As Byron makes mistakes and gets into trouble, both he and Kenny learn valuable lessons about what it means to grow up and become more mature. But learning these lessons isn’t always easy. When Byron finally brings his parents to a breaking point by misbehaving, they inform him that he will be spending the entire summer—and…
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Family, Friendship, and Support
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 underlines the importance of having other people to turn to for emotional support. Because he doesn’t have many friends at school, Kenny knows how nice it would be to have supportive people in his life. He often gets made fun of, so he’s overjoyed when a new kid in school, Rufus, turns out to be even easier to pick on than him. Though at first he hopes Rufus will…
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Bullying and Injustice vs. Kindness and Compassion
Kenny experiences a fair amount of unkindness in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963. At home, Byron constantly pulls pranks on him and insults him by calling him “square.” And unfortunately for Kenny, the teasing doesn’t stop there, since he also faces bullies like Larry Dunn at school, where he’s often made fun of for having a lazy eye. Even LJ Jones, who is supposedly Kenny’s friend, steals his toys whenever they play together…
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Race and Class
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 spotlights Kenny and Byron’s growing awareness of the ways in which race and social class impact people’s lives—including their own. Their family doesn’t have a lot of money, but the Watsons are still better off than other people in their community. For instance, Kenny learns to share his lunch with Rufus, who never has anything to eat at school. Kenny also notices that the school bully, Larry Dunn…
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