What are the motifs in The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis?

Growing Up is a recurring idea in the story. Sometimes children start to grow up when they see and understand the harsh realities of the world. That happens to Kenny in this novel. He has a violent and rude initiation into the goings on of the adults. It takes him some time to get over the intensity of seeing how cruel adults can be. Even though he's been dealing with bullies all his life, he hasn't had to face anything terribly brutal, certainly nothing racially motivated, since his entire world involves other African Americans.