The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963

 The Watsons Go to Birmingham (Curtis, Christopher Paul; 1995, Delacorte Press; 210 pages; ISBN 9780385321754)  

The award-winning novelist Christopher Paul Curtis sets this fictional story in Michigan in 1963, and has the family travel to Birmingham just before the time that four young African American girls are killed in a church bombing.  The story is narrated by Kenny Watson, age 10, who details the exploits of his trouble-prone older brother with humor.  The story takes on a serious tone when Kenny’s sister is temporarily missing in the rubble of the bombed church.