Fourth-grader Kenny Watson narrates this story about his closely knit African American family: Momma, Dad, baby sister Joetta, and 13-year-old brother Byron living in Flint, Michigan, in 1963. We get to know his strict, loving parents and his tough older brother, who gets into so much trouble his parents decide to take him back "home" to Birmingham, Alabama, where maybe his strong grandmother will teach him some sense. You will laugh at the different funny incidents that happen throughout the story that will make the Watsons come to life and be real to you. The tone of the novel changes dramatically at the end of the story when an actual incident, the death of four young innocent girls in the bombing of a church, brings the struggles of the civil rights movement into the story. The fear Kenny has when he thinks Joey was one of those girls killed really hits home. It brings him in to a state of withdrawal. Ultimately, this is a family that sticks together through good times and bad. The love and support each other, even reaching out to extended family for help. It is a time where you watch the boys grow up and learn that being an adult isn't easy and that even the parents question if they are doing it right. This is a very powerful story, but is funny and easy to read. I definitely recommend this for middle and high school students. I think it's an enjoyable book yet it includes the history of the freedoms that so many people had to fight for in this country.
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