Christopher Paul Curtis · 224 pages
Rating: (49.6K votes)
“There's one good thing about getting in trouble: It seems like you do it in steps. It seems like you don't just end up in trouble but that you kind of ease yourself into it. It also seems like the worse the trouble is that you get into, the more steps it takes to get there. Sort of like you're getting a bunch of little warnings on the way; sort of like if you really wanted to you could turn around.”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“Wow. Who would want a fish for a pet when they could have a turtle?!”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“Byron says he won't go there. He give Kenny and Joey a story about "Wool Pooh," the supposed evil twin of Winnie-the-Pooh. They believe him, but Kenny still wants to go.”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“Having a little pee in your pants had to be better than being dinner for some redneck.”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“Now, your mother and I made a deal when we first got married that if either one of us ever watched the 'wunnerful, wunnerful' Lawrence Welk Show or listened to country music the other one got to get a free divorce.”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“cereal and went out into the”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“Dad was in the United Auto Workers at work so seniority was real important in our house.”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“Byron had just turned thirteen so he was officially a teenage juvenile delinquent and”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“It’s 1936, in Flint, Michigan. Times are hard. Ten-year-old Bud is a motherless boy on the run, and his momma never told him who his father was. But she left a clue: posters of Herman”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“road and find this mystery man, nothing can stop him—not hunger, not cops, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself. “A crackerjack”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“and his momma never told him who his father was. But she left a clue: posters of Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! Bud’s got”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“who his father was. But she left a clue: posters of Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! Bud’s got an idea that those posters will lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road and find this mystery man, nothing can stop him—not hunger, not cops, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself. “A crackerjack read-aloud.”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“Ten-year-old Bud is a motherless boy on the run, and his momma never told him who his father was. But she left a clue: posters of Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! Bud’s got an idea that those posters will lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road and find this mystery man, nothing can stop him—not hunger, not cops, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself.”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“But I was kind of surprised that God would send a saver to me in such raggedy clothes.”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“She always blamed him for bringing her all the way from Alabama to Michigan, a state she called”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“Momma was the only one who wasn’t born in Flint so the cold was coldest to her. All you could see were her eyes too, and they were shooting bad looks at Dad. She always blamed him for bringing her all the way from Alabama to Michigan, a state she called a giant icebox. Dad was bundled up on the other side of Joey, trying to look at anything but Momma. Next to Dad, sitting with a little space between them, was my older brother, Byron.”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“went off during Sunday school. Addie Mae Collins’s sister, Sarah, had to have an eye removed, and another girl was blinded. In the unrest that followed the bombing, two other African American children died. Sixteen-year-old Johnny Robinson was shot to death by police, and thirteen-year-old Virgil Wade was murdered by two white boys. Although these may be nothing more than names in a book to you now, you must remember that these children were just as precious to their families as Joetta was to the Watsons or as your brothers and sisters are to you.”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“and public transportation applied economic pressure. Freedom Riders—African Americans and whites—took bus trips throughout the South to test federal laws that banned segregation in interstate transportation. Black students had enrolled in segregated schools such as Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the University of Alabama. Picketing, protest marches, and demonstrations made headlines. Civil rights workers carried out programs for voter education and registration. The goal was”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
“was caught up in a struggle for basic human rights that became known as the civil rights movement. Although the Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal and the Constitution had been amended after the Civil War to extend the rights and protections of citizenship to African Americans, changing the law of the land did not always change the way people behaved. In the Northern, Eastern and Western states, African Americans often faced discrimination, but it was not”
― Christopher Paul Curtis, quote from The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
Born place: in Flint, Michigan, The United States
Born date May 10, 1953
See more on GoodReads
“And I start to say that I’m not lying now, but I am, so that would be a lie.”
― Lisa Desrochers, quote from Personal Demons
“Vera said: “Why do you feel you have to turn everything into a story?”
So I told her why.
Because if I tell the story, I control the version.
Because if I tell the story, I can make you laugh, and I would rather have you laugh at me than feel sorry for me.
Because if I tell the story, it doesn't hurt as much.
Because if I tell the story, I can get on with it.”
― Nora Ephron, quote from Heartburn
“Every once in a while you just have to decide to something very crazy and very right-- just dare yourself to live. I don't mean doing something stupid and destructive-- just something fun and good and beautiful.”
― Regina Doman, quote from The Shadow of the Bear
“I will never hurt you.
I will always help you.
If you are hungry
Ill give you my food.
If you are frightened
I am your friend.
I love you now.
And love does not end.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Songmaster
“Sometimes we reveal ourselves when we are least like ourselves.”
― Anaïs Nin, quote from Henry and June: From "A Journal of Love"--The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin
Bloodfire Quest
Beat the Reaper
Glory
Allan Quatermain
Hear the Wind Sing
SmokeBookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.
