Module Five: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Bibliography

Curtis, C. P. (1999). Bud, not Buddy. New York, NY: Yearling.

Summary

During the Depression era in Flint, Michigan, 10-year-old orphan Bud (not Buddy) Caldwell takes on a great adventure in search of his father, Herman E. Calloway, the jazz musician. After a series of ill-fated stays at foster homes, Bud is out of options. His mother died when he was six, leaving him with little information about his father, aside from some flyers of band leader Herman E. Calloway and his band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression. Armed with his trusty suitcase, containing his most important, secret things, and Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself, Bud sets out for the 120-mile walk from Flint to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Along the way, he meets Lefty Lewis, who drives him the rest of the way to his destination. Once in Grand Rapids, Bud meets Calloway, whom he believes is his father, as well as Calloway's band mates, who are charmed by the boy. His father's identity is finally revealed, and the answer surprises them all, Calloway included.

 

My Impressions

I wasn't sure I would like this book, given the young male protagonist and depression-era setting, but I was pleasantly surprised. What I enjoyed most was the resilience that author Curtis injected into Bud, as well as the character's delightful sense of humor. Regardless of how difficult his circumstances, Bud always perseveres. When placed in foster care with the Amos family, Bud is treated miserably, particularly by Mrs. Amos and her coddled son, Toddy. During his first night with the Amos', Bud wakes up in pain to Toddy shoving a pencil up his nose and then bragging about how far up he's gotten it. Then they take away his beloved suitcase as punishment for fighting with Toddy. Finally, after they lock Bud inside a shed overnight, he escapes the Amos household for good. All the while, though, he manages to stay focused on his goal -- finding his father -- and maintain his sense of humor. These qualities keep the reader engaged throughout Bud's struggles, making the end result that much more rewarding.

 

Reviews

Publisher's Weekly
"As in his Newbery Honor-winning debut, The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, Curtis draws on a remarkable and disarming mix of comedy and pathos, this time to describe the travails and adventures of a 10-year-old African-American orphan in Depression-era Michigan. Bud is fed up with the cruel treatment he has received at various foster homes, and after being locked up for the night in a shed with a swarm of angry hornets, he decides to run away. His goal: to reach the man he--on the flimsiest of evidence--believes to be his father, jazz musician Herman E. Calloway. Relying on his own ingenuity and good luck, Bud makes it to Grand Rapids, where his "father" owns a club. Calloway, who is much older and grouchier than Bud imagined, is none too thrilled to meet a boy claiming to be his long-lost son. It is the other members of his band--Steady Eddie, Mr. Jimmy, Doug the Thug, Doo-Doo Bug Cross, Dirty Deed Breed and motherly Miss Thomas--who make Bud feel like he has finally arrived home. While the grim conditions of the times and the harshness of Bud's circumstances are authentically depicted, Curtis shines on them an aura of hope and optimism. And even when he sets up a daunting scenario, he makes readers laugh--for example, mopping floors for the rejecting Calloway, Bud pretends the mop is "that underwater boat in the book Momma read to me, Twenty Thousand Leaks Under the Sea." Bud's journey, punctuated by Dickensian twists in plot and enlivened by a host of memorable personalities, will keep readers engrossed from first page to last."

Horn Book Magazine

"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."

 

Use in Library

This would be a great book to use in a jazz music lesson for older elementary and middle school children. Librarians could take the performing arts route by bringing in various instruments used by jazz music, and even some live jazz musicians, to demonstrate the sounds various instruments make. They could also take the lesson in a more historical direction by discussing the jazz movement of the Depression era and its significance within the larger economic and social context of the 1930s. This second option would be more appropriate for middle school children.

Librarians could also use Bud, Not Buddy as a tipping off point for a general historical discussion about the Great Depression in America. What caused the Depression and what repercussions did it cause for all Americans? Did minorities and women face specific issues pertaining to their background? How did we get out of the Depression?


Brown, J. M. (1999). Forecasts: Children's books. [Review of the book Bud, Not Buddy]. Publishers Weekly, 246(32), 352. 

Sutton, R. (1999). Bud, not Buddy. [Review of the book Bud, Not Buddy]. Horn Book Magazine, 75(6), 737-738.

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