For thirteen years, Christopher Paul Curtis made a good living at the Fisher Auto Body Plant in Flint, Michigan. Day in and day out, he hung doors on automobiles as they came down the line. He could support his family very well on his job, but the boredom was killing him. One day his wife, who was a nurse, offered to support the family while Christopher took a year off to work on a children’s book. The result, The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, would change his life. Published by Delacorte, it soon became an award winner. After his second book, Bud, Not Buddy was released and also became an award winner, Christopher Paul Curtis was able to do something he had always wanted. Write full-time.