Curtis, C.P. (1995). The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963. NY:
Delacorte.
In 1963, ten
year old Kenny and his family, the weird Watson’s, take off on a family road
trip to Alabama. As the family travels to the deep-south, Kenny begins to hear
the adults whispering about the scary events taking place to discourage those
involved in the civil rights movement.
Even though his family tries to shelter Kenny and his brother and sister
from the tragic events, the nightmare is suddenly brought straight to them.
They are instantly put in the middle of a devastating event. Though many young
readers may not fully understand the civil rights movement, they will identify
with the family dynamics between Kenny and his siblings. The family
interactions are very realistic for the time and place of this story. We slowly
find out about the events taking place in the south during this time, though it
is not at the forefront of the story.
The struggles Kenny goes through after witnessing a tragic event that
directly impacted his family, shows us how a child might struggle with suddenly
being thrust into a real-world situation and learning that life is sometimes
dangerous and not always fair.
Great Resources:
Schlitz, L. A. (2007). Good Masters, Sweet Ladies. Boston:
Candlewick Press.
For the
children living in medieval England in the year 1255, life is not easy. From the lord’s nephew to Giles, the beggar,
this book shows the way of life at the manor.
Through monologues and dialogues that use language appropriate for the
times, the way of life is slowly unraveled. As readers, we are not overwhelmed
with many details and the circumstances of life at the manor, but we are
quickly made aware of the way of life and the typical struggles for the time
period. We quickly realize that it doesn’t matter what station in life the
character was born into, there are struggles for each of them. The dialect and
language of the times paints an honest picture of the way of life, but doesn’t
overwhelm the reader and make it hard to understand. Historical details and
background information are given to make the reader comfortable with the text
and the time period.
Great resources:
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