The Watson's come to your classroom

This is the second book that I have read from this author and I am more impressed with him than ever. I think it is so wonderful that he is writing quality literature with the main characters being African-American. The covers themselves will draw African-American children to them when they see that they can relate to the characters. There are not enough books like this. To top it all off, it is great historical fiction! What more can you ask for?!
The Watson's are a funny family, one that readers can relate to and be amused by. The incidents that take place are comical and also easy for students reading this book to relate to. Bullies, daddy cool's, and average kids are all represented in the book, making it interesting to all readers. It does take place in 1963 and gives a beginning look at what was taking place in the south at that time concerning racial issues. This would be a good book to read when introducing a unit on this topic to a class. It gives the students a look at this era without being too controversial. It also might give the students an idea of what it was like to be an African-American at this time and what they had to go through.
The only thing that I would be careful about if reading this book aloud to a class is to make sure that you have prepared them for it. They might not understand anything about this time period and they definitely need to be vaguely aware of what was going on in order to appreciate the story. Some of the issues might be sensitive areas so I would just make sure to handle them in a professional manner.