BUD, NOT BUDDY by Christopher Paul Curtis

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Curtis, Christopher Paul. 1999. Bud, Not Buddy. New York, NY: Delacorte Press. ISBN 0553494104

2. PLOT SUMMARY
It is 1936 and 10 year old Bud has been in the Michigan foster system since his mother’s untimely death four years earlier. After another abusive experience in a foster home, he sets off in search of his father, with only a few sentimental possessions in his tattered suit case. He believes that Herman E. Calloway, a jazz musician featured in flyers that his mother kept, is his father. His mental notebook (Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself) guides his often humorous encounters during the course of his journey. With help from some kind strangers, he makes his way to the crotchety Calloway who denies any connection with the boy. Bud has already begun making a home for himself with the band when it becomes apparent that Calloway is actually his maternal grandfather.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The harsh realities of Depression era life are balanced by Bud’s childish perspective and comedic musings, making this story easier to stomach when less appetizing food for thought is served. This is not to suggest that Curtis spares the truth. On the contrary, the reader learns much about Hoovervilles, hobos, meal lines, labor battles and police conflicts, along with the added struggle of being an African-American in this setting.

The other side of the scale is weighted by the kindness of strangers and Bud’s own antics as he ponders his Rules and Things. While one such stranger is driving him to his “father,” he reflects on rule # 8- “Whenever a Adult Tells You to Listen Carefully and Talks to You in a Real Calm Voice Do Not Listen, Run as Fast as You Can Because Something Real Terrible Is Just Around the Corner, Especially If the Cops Are Chasing You” (133). In this scenario, Bud’s street smarts alert him to danger, even though he does not yet understand that the peril lies in his benefactor’s role as a labor organizer. That Bud encounters so many Great Depression stereotypes during his brief excursion makes the story seem somewhat contrived at first, but the jazz musician perspective adds some unique insights to the era in the latter half of the novel.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
From School Library Journal: “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.”

From Publisher’s Weekly: “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.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*Write more Rules and Things
*Invite a Depression era guest speaker
*Listen to 1930’s jazz music
*Take a field trip to a jazz performance
*Other books by Christopher Paul Curtis:
The Watsons Go to Birmingham ISBN 978-0440228004
Bucking the Sarge ISBN 0440413311
*Music
Songs of the Depression: Boom, Bust & New Deal
Brother Can You Spare a Dime? Songs of the Depression
The Great Depression: American Music in the ‘30s