Book Review: "The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963" (and corresponding unfortunate events)

Dear people, what a sad, sad day.  As I sit here and ponder the tragedy of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conneticut, it breaks my heart.  Snow is falling outside my window, deceptively calm and quiet, reassuring and restive.  Here in my wonderful valley, with my family asleep nearby and the Christmas lights softly glowing, it's hard to believe that anything so awful could happen. (If by some chance you haven't heard the news yet, you can read it here.)

Today, I finished another beloved book, and it just so happens to correspond with the shooting in Conneticut. 

The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, by Christopher Paul Curtis

Synopsis:  Kenneth Bernard Watson tells many a tale of his family in Flint, Michigan in the early 1960's.  He tells stories of his schoolmates making fun of him for his lazy eye and for being so smart for a ten-year-old; he tells stories of his older brother (and official teenage delinquent) Byron, when he gets his lips stuck to the freezing cold mirror of their car, the Brown Bomber; stories of younger sister Joetta's unfailing Sunday School attendance, his best friend Rufus, the World's Greatest Dinosaur Battle Ever, and many other stories that will leave you falling in love with the whole family of the Weird Watsons and laughing at the antics of the entire family--until a trip to Wilona Watson's hometown of Birmingham, Alabama and the deaths of four little girls due to a bomb placed in their Sunday School class changes all of their lives forever.

My Rating:  * * * * (out of 5)

I remember putting this book down today with B's head on my shoulder, hoping to get some sleep before he went to work the night shift at our local hotel, and literally thinking, "I am so glad that as Americans, we don't have to deal with this kind of violence anymore".  It wasn't until later that I found out about the school shooting.

People, there is no need for this.  The killing of any human being is an awful, awful thing, and the killing of so many, and so young, is completely unnecessary.  Hold your loved ones close this season and thank God that you will not have to send back unopened Christmas presents this year.  Send your love and thoughts to those who are grieving at this time.  And let's hope that someday, we really won't have to deal with that kind of violence.  Ever again.