Summary
Bud has been an orphan since he was six
years old. He has little in this world except an old suitcase filled
with his personal things, in particular, some old playbills for the
Herman E. Calloway Jazz band. Bud is sure that Herman E. Calloway is
his father. Bud's experience in the orphanage was difficult, but
living in foster homes was worse. So Bud, at ten years old, decides
to leave and try to find Herman Calloway. Bud decides to walk to
Grand Rapids from Flint and goes to the library to find out how far
it is to Grand Rapids. Bud meets up with another orphan named Bugs.
The boys decide to hop a train going west and head for the outskirts
of Flint. At Hooverville, the boys are welcomed into the shanty town
of homeless families living in cardboard and tar houses. When he
misses the train, and the police breakup Hooverville, Bud begins his
lonely walk towards Grand Rapids. Bud meets Lefty Lewis who gives
him a ride into Grand Rapids, and Bud finally meets Herman E.
Calloway. Herman refuses to believe Bud, until Bud begins to talk
about his mother. Eventually, they find out that Bud is the
grandchild of Herman E. Calloway. Bud's mother ran away when she was
19 and her father had not heard from her since.
Impressions
Bud is very particular about his name.
His mother insisted that he be called Bud, not Buddy. So Bud always
makes sure that everyone he meets knows this about him: that he is
to be called by his rightful name of Bud. Finding his family is very
important to Bud. All he has is a cardboard suitcase, some fond
memories of his mother before she died, and his determination to find
his father. This historical fiction is a fine example of the impact
the Depression had on families. The long lines at the soup kitchen,
the cardboard and tar shantytowns that sprang up near the railroad
tracks, men and boys leaving their families to ride the rails in
search of jobs. Bud is only ten years old but he embodies the issues
that permeate that era: abandoned children left at orphanages when
parents loose their jobs and homes. Some foster families offer their
homes to orphans for the government benefits, yet they mistreat the
children terribly. Bud find courage to locate his father because he
really has no other choice, it is either walk to Grand Rapids or put
up with bullies in the orphanage or cruelty from a foster family.
What makes this book an interesting
read is the pragmatism that Bud displays when he experiences
difficulty. He has his own rules to live by, that adds humor to
events that might be horrendous otherwise. "Rules and Things
for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar out of Yourself"
is Bud's way of coping with the stress of not knowing where the next
meal will come from, or what new stranger will hurt him.
Use in the library
In collaboration with Social Studies
teachers, the librarian can introduce this book for a study on the
early 20th century and the Great Depression in the United States.
Students can discuss unemployment, poverty, riding the rails,
shantytowns, and so on. Another interesting thing to do with this
book is to ask the students to interpret Bud's "Rules and Things
for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar out of Yourself".
Ask the student how do these rules help Bud in his journey to find
his father.
Reviews
From The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"The story of Bud’s search is
set against the background of the Great Depression, and Curtis evokes
an atmosphere of need and despair held together by strands of hope
and generosity. Individual scenes have tremendous emotional impact:
Bud, too late to get a place in line for breakfast at the mission, is
temporarily adopted by a family already in line; a confrontation in a
freight yard between residents of a Flint Hooverville and Pinkerton
detectives gives a sense of the determination of men desperate to
feed their families; Bud’s encounter with Lefty Lewis on a dark
road in the middle of the night circumspectly indicates the dangers
of being Negro in a racist community. While the circumstances
surrounding Bud’s return to his family may gently chafe against
credulity, Curtis’ characterizations are so strong they make
coincidence acceptable. The resourceful Bud is a hero readers will
take immediately to heart, and the people he encounters on his
journey have a specificity that raises them above plot devices and
makes them individually memorable". Reviewed by Janice M. Del
Negro
From Booklist
"Bud, 10, is on the run from the
orphanage and from yet another mean foster family. His mother died
when he was 6, and he wants to find his father. Set in Michigan
during the Great Depression, this is an Oliver Twist kind of
foundling story, but it's told with affectionate comedy, like the
first part of Curtis' The Watsons Go to Birmingham (1995). On his
journey, Bud finds danger and violence (most of it treated as farce),
but more often, he finds kindness--in the food line, in the library,
in the Hooverville squatter camp, on the road--until he discovers who
he is and where he belongs. Told in the boy's naive, desperate voice,
with lots of examples of his survival tactics ("Rules and Things
for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar out of Yourself"),
this will make a great read-aloud. Curtis says in an afterword that
some of the characters are based on real people, including his own
grandfathers, so it's not surprising that the rich blend of tall
tale, slapstick, sorrow, and sweetness has the wry, teasing warmth of
family folklore". Reviewed by Hazel Rochman.
Resources
Curtis, C. P. (2002).
Bud not Buddy. New York, NY:
Scholastic, Inc.
Del Negro, J. (1999,
November). [Review of the book Bud not Buddy by Curtis, C.P. ].
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 53(3).
Retrieved from http://bccb.lis.illinois.edu/
Rochman,
H. (1999, September). [Review of the book Bud not Buddy by Curtis,
C. P. ]. Booklist
96(1). Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/
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