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| Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis |
Bud, Not Buddy is an exciting tale about Bud Caldwell, a ten year old orphan, living in Michigan during the Great Depression. Bud became an orphan at the age of six when his mother died. As the story opens Bud receives the news that he has been placed in a new foster home with a family who has a twelve year old son, Todd. Todd is a mean bully and after sticking a pencil up Bud’s nose proceeds to fight him. When the boys are caught fighting by Todd’s mother, Todd blames the entire incident on Bud. Bud is then banished to the shed outside where his imagination gets the best of him and he fears for his life when spotting what he believes to be vampire bats. The vampire bats turn out to be hornets and Bud is stung numerous times causing him to lose his balance and cut himself on mounted fish heads in the shed.
Exasperated by this experience, Bud escapes the shed, exacts revenge on Todd and goes “on the lam.” Next Bud decides to track down Herman E. Calloway, who he believes is his father based on several brochures he has from his mother that feature Herman and his band, The Dusky Devastators of the Depression. Along his way Bud meets a man who he at first believes to be a vampire, Lefty Lewis, but Lefty turns out to be a friendly old man with a sharp sense of humor who helps Bud reach Mr. Calloway.
Herman E. Calloway is not to happy to have Bud around and doesn’t believe there is any way he could be his father, seeing as how he is so much older than Bud. The lead singer of The Dusky Devastators convinces the band to take Bud in for awhile and eventually a special rock with a location written on it helps Bud and Herman figure out their relationship and how they both knew Bud’s mother.
Curtis, C. P. (1999). Bud, not Buddy. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.
My impression:
I fell in love with this light-hearted story. Bud is instantly likable and his innocence and imagination captured my attention immediately. I chuckled over his “rules on how to have a funner life and be a better liar” and empathized with his longing to know his father and the terrible void that was left by his beloved mother’s death. Christopher Paul Curtis did an excellent job of sneaking in details about The Great Depression and hints about what life was like for African Americans during the 1930’s. This story will resonate with readers young and old.
Professional Reviews:
In a story that's as far-fetched as it is irresistible, and as classic as it is immediate, a deserving orphan boy finds a home. It's the Depression, and Bud (not Buddy) is ten and has been on his own since his mother died when he was six. In and out of the Flint, Michigan, children's home and foster homes ever since, Bud decides to take off and find his father after a particularly terrible, though riotously recounted, evening with his latest foster family. Helped only by a few clues his mother left him, and his own mental list of "Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself," Bud makes his way to a food pantry, then to the library to do some research (only to find that his beloved librarian, one Charlemae Rollins, has moved to Chicago), and finally to the local Hooverville where he just misses hopping a freight to Chicago. Undaunted, he decides to walk to Grand Rapids, where he hopes his father, the bandleader Herman E. Calloway, will be. Lefty Lewis, the kindly union man who gives Bud a lift, is not the first benevolent presence to help the boy on his way, nor will he be the last. There's a bit of the Little Rascals in Bud, and a bit more of Shirley Temple as his kind heart and ingenuous ways bring tears to the eyes of the crustiest of old men--not his father, but close enough. But Bud's fresh voice keeps the sentimentality to a reasonable simmer, and the story zips along in step with Bud's own panache.
Sutton, R. (1999, Nov. 1). [Review of the book Bud, not Buddy, by C.P. Curtis]. Horn Book Magazine
75(6), 737. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com
Gr 4-7 --When 10.year-old Bud Caldwell runs away from his new foster home, he realizes he has nowhere to go but to search for the father he has never known: a legendary jazz musician advertised on some old posters his deceased mother had kept. A friendly stranger picks him up on the road in the middle of the night and deposits him in Grand Rapids, MI, with Herman E. Calloway and his jazz Band, but the man Bud was convinced was his father turns out to be old, cold, and cantankerous. Luckily, the band members are more welcoming; they take him in, put him to work, and begin to teach him to play an instrument. In a Victorian ending, Bud uses the rocks he has treasured from his childhood to prove his surprising relationship with Mr. Calloway. The lively humor contrasts with the grim details of the Depression-era setting and the particular difficulties faced by African Americans at that time. Bud is a plucky, engaging protagonist. Other characters are exaggerations: the good ones (the librarian and Pullman car porter who help him on his journey and the band members who embrace him) are totally open and supportive, while the villainous foster family finds particularly imaginative ways to torture their charge. However, readers will be so caught up in the adventure that they won't mind. Curtis has given a fresh, new look to a traditional orphan-finds-a-home story that would be a crackerjack read-aloud.
Isaacs, K. (1999, Sep. 1). [Review of the book Bud, not Buddy, by C.P. Curtis]. School Library Journal
45(9), 221. Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com
Library Uses:
Bud has made a list of rules he lives by called “Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself” As an introduction to the novel, the teacher-librarian could have several of Bud’s rules printed on posters as discussion starters for students. Students could then brainstorm their own rules to live by and give them a catchy title, just as Bud did. After brainstorming, students could collaborate in groups of 3 to 4 to create posters to hang around the library.
In Chapter 8 of the book Bud and Bugs are going to ride the rails out West. The teacher librarian could begin a discussion on The Great Depression and how common it was to ride the rails. Students could watch the PBS video, Riding the Rails (The American History Project/Out of the Blue Productions, Inc.) for background information about hitching rides on trains. After watching the video, students could write a letter from Bugs to Bud telling him how he is doing and what life is like riding the rails.
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