Module 4 - Bud, Not Buddy

Citation: Curtis, C. P. (2004). Bud, not Buddy. New York, NY: Laurel-Leaf Books.

Book Summary: This is an inspirational story about a 10 year old orphan who goes on an adventure to find his father, whom he believes is a popular musician. Bud's  mother is deceased, but she left clues about the identify of his father in a suitcase that he carries around with him everywhere he goes. Throughout the book, Bud is faced with many obstacles, including racial prejudice.  He remains upbeat and positive throughout it all. 

My Impressions: This is a book that makes readers want to keep reading.  Curtis' writing makes readers root for Buddy and wonder if he will ever find his father.  Though the book is serious at times, Curtis also keeps readers laughing.  I loved reading Bud's "Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself". I like how the author explains at the end of the book that some of the characters are based on some of his own family members.  He even includes pictures of them. 

Professional Review: 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 be 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 Shirloy 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, November/December). Bud, not Buddy. [Review of the book Bud, not Buddy, by C.P. Curtis]. Horn Book Magazine, 75(6), 737-738.

Library Uses: This would be a good book to include in a book talk on books that take place during the Great Depression.