Bud Caldwell is a 10-year-old boy from Flint Michigan during the Great Depression, who was orphaned at a very young age. He now is forced to live at an orphanage, with a select few cherished mementoes of his mother which include a picture of her as a child, a bag of rocks, and some posters of a jazz musician and his band. “Bud” is assigned to an abusive foster home, but soon escapes and goes in search of the mysterious musician in the posters, Herman E. Calloway, who he suspects could be his real father. With the assistance of a limousine driver he meets on the road, Bud finds Calloway and follows his concerts, noticing that after each one, Calloway takes a rock and writes the concert date and location on it. They look exactly like the rocks his mother left behind. Bud shows the musician his rocks, which at first are met with suspicion, then with anger. It is soon discovered that Bud’s mother is Calloway’s very own daughter who had run away years ago. Eventually Bud and Calloway come to accept that they are grandfather and grandson, and become very close, and Bud finds the home he has been longing for.
APA Reference:
Curtis, C.P. (1999). Bud, Not Buddy. New York N.Y. Delacorte Books for Young Readers.My Impressions:
This book struck a chord with me in that it related a sad and tragic story of an orphaned young boy whose life is without hope and who doesn’t even know his own heritage. He is abandoned and alone – your heart goes out to him. The Depression was a difficult time to live through for most people, but an orphaned boy has almost no chance for survival. Bud shows his creativity, his resilience and his humor throughout the book as he pursues leads that will possibly take him to his father. He has inherited the love for jazz music as well, and when he finally finds his grandfather, it is such a relief. That young man now has a brighter future and can experience the love of family. This is a heartwarming book and definitely deserved to win the Coretta Scott King Award (2000).
Professional Review:
…Christopher[Curtis’]second novel was going to be about the sit-down strike of 1937 in Flint. In the first draft of Bud, Not Buddy Bud had a glimpse of tanks and strikers in the street, but that story will have to wait for another book; in this one, the strike boiled down to the box of flyers in Lefty's car. Bud had amazing adventures that also wait for other books, as do some terrific characters. Stories leak out of Christopher like laughter, along with hilarious asides, dialogue, and wonderful details. Most of the editorial process (i.e., struggle) is about trying to control these elements so that the story doesn't lose momentum or tension.
I marvel at his use of slapstick, humor, and "gross" things kids love, like backwash in a bottle of pop. Or his shorthand with the details: Bud's first meal in a restaurant, or Kenny's description of breathing in the pomade on his little sister's hair, or that moment, after the bombing, when Kenny looks at the shoe.
Each book is carried along by the exaggerated tone and the heightened childlike energy of the voice, and by the tension created when Christopher sets each boy up against a great, dark force: the bombing; the Depression; racism. In Bud, Not Buddy the rules are funny and to the point, but they also show us what inspired them--Bud's hard, hard life in the hands of strangers.
Christopher's readers learn how history affects ordinary people like the Watsons and Bud--and about other ideas, such as the importance of music, whether it's Yakkity Yak on the Ultra Glide or the subtle "vocal stylings" of Miss Thomas in 1930s Grand Rapids. And they learn about family: family is the goal; family is the salvation; family is Bud's right and he must demand it from the world…
[Review of the book Bud, not Buddy, by C. P. Curtis]. (2000, Juy/August). Horn Book Magazine. 76(4). 397-401. Retrieved from http://www.mediasourceinc.com/
Library Uses:
This book takes place in the 1930s during the Great Depression in the United States, a time of extreme hardship and poverty for many people. Many Americans faced the desperate situation of joblessness and starvation, especially African Americans. If there happened to be a job available, long lines would form to apply for it, and it most likely would not go to a black person. This was the era before the Civil Rights movement took place, and the Depression affected African Americans even more severely.
This would be a good book to lead into a discussion on the Great Depression and the advent of the Civil Rights movement. This could also spark a discussion on orphanages, child abuse, or the exploration of jazz music.
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