The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

by

Christopher Paul Curtis

Joey is Kenny’s little sister. A loyal sister, she often tries to defend Byron from their parents, never wanting her older brother to get in too much trouble (regardless of whether or not he deserves it). She frequently tries to intervene when Wilona punishes Byron, crying for Byron and making excuses for him. She even actively prevents Wilona from burning Byron’s fingers with a match after she catches him playing with fire. Of all three children, then, Joey represents the kind of loyalty and support that people often show their siblings, embodying the caring, kind attitude that Kenny and Byron are only able to show each other in rare moments of tenderness. Joey is also a devout churchgoer, never missing Sunday School. She even goes to Sunday School at a church near Grandma Sands’s house in Birmingham, narrowly missing the racist bomb attack on the church when she decides to leave the hot building and chases Kenny—or who she thinks is Kenny—down the street.

Joetta Watson (Joey) Quotes in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

The The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 quotes below are all either spoken by Joetta Watson (Joey) or refer to Joetta Watson (Joey). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Change, Coming of Age, and Maturity Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

All of my family sat real close together on the couch under a blanket. Dad said this would generate a little heat but he didn’t have to tell us this, it seemed like the cold automatically made us want to get together and huddle up.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Byron Watson, Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father), Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother), Joetta Watson (Joey)
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

I couldn’t believe how sad I got. It’s funny how things could change so much and you wouldn’t notice. All of a sudden I started remembering how much I hated riding the bus, all of a sudden I started remembering how lunchtime under the swing set alone wasn’t very much fun, all of a sudden I started remembering that before Rufus came to Flint my only friend was the world’s biggest dinosaur thief, LJ Jones, all of a sudden I remembered that Rufus and Cody were the only two kids in the whole school (other than Byron and Joey) that I didn’t automatically look at sideways.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Byron Watson, Joetta Watson (Joey), Rufus, Cody, LJ Jones
Related Symbols: Kenny’s Lazy Eye
Page Number: 45
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

“But you notice that not everybody gets froze like that, it’s just them folks from down South who got that thin, down-home blood who freeze so quick. And you know Momma ain’t from Flint, she grew up in Alabama and that means half of y’all’s blood is real thin, so Momma’s worried that one morning it’s gonna be cold enough to freeze you all.

“That’s where them fake garbage trucks come in. Every morning they go round picking the froze folks off the street, and they need them big doors because someone who got froze don’t bend in the middle and they wouldn’t fit in no regular ambulance.”

Related Characters: Byron Watson (speaker), Kenny Watson, Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother), Joetta Watson (Joey)
Page Number: 54
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

It was hard to do, but I kind of felt sorry for Byron, though not too sorry because I knew he deserved whatever happened, first because he had a chance to escape and didn’t take it and second because he was being a bad influence on me. Nazi Parachutes Attack America and Get Shot Down over the Flint River by Captain Byron Watson and His Flamethrower of Death looked like a real cool movie for me to make too. If Momma just gave Byron some stupid punishment, then maybe it would be worth it for me to flush some Nazis down the drain myself. But if you got set on fire for doing it the movie wasn’t worth making.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Byron Watson, Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother), Joetta Watson (Joey)
Page Number: 70
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

Who could understand Byron? Here was a chance for another Fantastic Adventure and he was going in the wrong direction. Something was wrong with him. If he was in Flint and you told him not to do something he’d go right out and do it, but now he was acting real dull and square. Maybe it was the heat, maybe just like it had sucked all the energy out of me it had sucked all the meanness and fun out of Byron.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Byron Watson, Joetta Watson (Joey), Grandma Sands
Page Number: 170
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

I gave the shoe one more hard tug and it popped loose from a frilly white sock. I got real scared. I walked as slow and as quiet as I could out of the church. Maybe if I moved quiet enough he wouldn’t come for me. Maybe if I walked and didn’t look back he’d leave me alone. I walked past where the adults were still screaming and pointing, I walked past where that guy had set the little girl in blue, right next to where someone else had set the little girl in red. I knew if Joey sat down next to those two their dresses would make the red, white and blue of the American flag.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Joetta Watson (Joey)
Page Number: 185
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 PDF

Joetta Watson (Joey) Quotes in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

The The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 quotes below are all either spoken by Joetta Watson (Joey) or refer to Joetta Watson (Joey). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Change, Coming of Age, and Maturity Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

All of my family sat real close together on the couch under a blanket. Dad said this would generate a little heat but he didn’t have to tell us this, it seemed like the cold automatically made us want to get together and huddle up.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Byron Watson, Daniel Watson (Kenny’s Father), Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother), Joetta Watson (Joey)
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

I couldn’t believe how sad I got. It’s funny how things could change so much and you wouldn’t notice. All of a sudden I started remembering how much I hated riding the bus, all of a sudden I started remembering how lunchtime under the swing set alone wasn’t very much fun, all of a sudden I started remembering that before Rufus came to Flint my only friend was the world’s biggest dinosaur thief, LJ Jones, all of a sudden I remembered that Rufus and Cody were the only two kids in the whole school (other than Byron and Joey) that I didn’t automatically look at sideways.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Byron Watson, Joetta Watson (Joey), Rufus, Cody, LJ Jones
Related Symbols: Kenny’s Lazy Eye
Page Number: 45
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

“But you notice that not everybody gets froze like that, it’s just them folks from down South who got that thin, down-home blood who freeze so quick. And you know Momma ain’t from Flint, she grew up in Alabama and that means half of y’all’s blood is real thin, so Momma’s worried that one morning it’s gonna be cold enough to freeze you all.

“That’s where them fake garbage trucks come in. Every morning they go round picking the froze folks off the street, and they need them big doors because someone who got froze don’t bend in the middle and they wouldn’t fit in no regular ambulance.”

Related Characters: Byron Watson (speaker), Kenny Watson, Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother), Joetta Watson (Joey)
Page Number: 54
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

It was hard to do, but I kind of felt sorry for Byron, though not too sorry because I knew he deserved whatever happened, first because he had a chance to escape and didn’t take it and second because he was being a bad influence on me. Nazi Parachutes Attack America and Get Shot Down over the Flint River by Captain Byron Watson and His Flamethrower of Death looked like a real cool movie for me to make too. If Momma just gave Byron some stupid punishment, then maybe it would be worth it for me to flush some Nazis down the drain myself. But if you got set on fire for doing it the movie wasn’t worth making.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Byron Watson, Wilona Watson (Kenny’s Mother), Joetta Watson (Joey)
Page Number: 70
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

Who could understand Byron? Here was a chance for another Fantastic Adventure and he was going in the wrong direction. Something was wrong with him. If he was in Flint and you told him not to do something he’d go right out and do it, but now he was acting real dull and square. Maybe it was the heat, maybe just like it had sucked all the energy out of me it had sucked all the meanness and fun out of Byron.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Byron Watson, Joetta Watson (Joey), Grandma Sands
Page Number: 170
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

I gave the shoe one more hard tug and it popped loose from a frilly white sock. I got real scared. I walked as slow and as quiet as I could out of the church. Maybe if I moved quiet enough he wouldn’t come for me. Maybe if I walked and didn’t look back he’d leave me alone. I walked past where the adults were still screaming and pointing, I walked past where that guy had set the little girl in blue, right next to where someone else had set the little girl in red. I knew if Joey sat down next to those two their dresses would make the red, white and blue of the American flag.

Related Characters: Kenny Watson (speaker), Joetta Watson (Joey)
Page Number: 185
Explanation and Analysis: