“The Watsons Go to Birmingham” by Christopher Paul Curtis (Laurel Leaf, 224 pp., recommended for ages 9-12) is told by 10-year-old Kenny, who is less than enthusiastic about his black middle class family’s reputation as the “Weird Watsons” in their hometown of Flint, Michigan. When summer arrives the Watsons takes a road trip to Alabama – the home of Kenny’s maternal grandmother – where they hope Kenny's delinquent 13-year-old brother Byron will be set straight. But while they are there, a historical tragedy interrupts the Southern community, deeply upsetting Kenny and rallying the family to help him heal.
