I have just finished reading the first five chapters of the book and as the summarizer I am going to provide a short summary of what occured in the first five chapters:
In the beginning we meet the wierd Watsons and we find that our book is narrated by the youngest Watson son Kenny. The Watson family consists of the momma (who is from the south), the daddy, oldest brother Byron who is in the sixth grade but should be further along, Narrator and fourth grader Kenny and sister Joetta who is in kindergarten.
The first four chapters are all about the family's life in Flint Michigan and a fair amount of the time is spent "watching" the Watsons live in the cold of Michigan with a momma from the south who is not so keen on the cold temperature around her. The youngest Watsons stay so bundled up they can barely walk and Kenny has to help Joetta out of her clothes at school each morning just like Byron had to do for him when he was in kindergarten.
We get to see how Byron is a bit of a bully, Kenny is smart and bullied, and Joetta tries her best to keep the peace. We meet friends of Byron's and Kenny's and watch how everyone interacts with the wierd Watsons through school and play, through sibling interaction and through momma almost giving Byron the punishment of his life for playing with matches.
Let's not forget why Kenny is bullied. Lazy eye and reads like a champ. An African-American who can read well was not very common. one of By's favorite things to bully Kenny about is his eye. He always crosses his eyes to silently pick on Kenneth.
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