It is often said that older kids can never seem to act their age .This is seen in the novel The Watsons go to Birmingham 1983, by Christopher Paul Curtis when the Watson’s are in Flint the author uses symbolism to show that growing up can sometimes be hard. Kenny uses coming of age as a symbolization that growing up can be hard. When kenny goes behind the couch to the pet hospital, “I only wanted to come out of the Pet hospital to eat and go to the bathroom.” (196). Kenny symbolizes coming of age because he shows how you can solve your problems. This illustrates the author’s message about how he can grow into someone who learn how to figure out his problems, instead of telling an adult. He decided to go into the World Famous Watsons Pet