Bud,+Not+Buddy

Bud, not Buddy, Caldwell is a 10-year old orphan from Flint, Michigan in the midst of the Great Depression. After his affectionate mother passes away when he was 6 years old, he is put in an orphanage which he escapes from with his friend Bugs. Bud is determined to find his father, the famous jazz musician H.E Calloway of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The only clue Bud has of his father is a flyer his mother kept advertising a show with the name "H.E. Calloway and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression". Carrying his suitcase, that never leaves his sight, with him, he sets out on his journey to Grand Rapids, Michigan in search of his father. From trying to hop on a freight train with hundreds of other people to hitchhiking a ride from a complete stranger, Bud makes it to Grand Rapids and meets his father and his band for the first time, and he is not at all what Bud expected him to be. Using the items Bud has in his suitcase, he tries to prove his relationship to H.E Calloway and establish some sort of relationship with him. The grim setting of the Great Depression mixed with the humor of Bud and the band members makes the book enjoyable and does not keep the focus on the details of one of the worst time periods in American history.
 * Summary/Review**

Christopher Paul Curtis was born in Flint, Michigan on May 10, 1953.He went on to graduate from the University of Michigan-Flint in 1999 with a bachelor's degree, where he was also the commencement speaker. After spending his first thirteen years out of high school working various jobs, he took a year off to write his first novel, //The Watsons Go to Birmingham//, in 1963. He has been a full time author and lecturer/speaker since 1998. In 2009 he went on to receive a Doctor of Laws Causa from the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Curtis based characters in //Bud, Not Buddy// off of his two grandfathers: Earl "Lefty" Lewis, a Negro baseball pitcher, and bandleader Herman E. Curtis Sr., a 1930s bandleader. He has become a Newbery Medal winner and //Bud, Not Buddy// was the first novel to receive both the Coretta Scott King Award and the Newbery Medal. He and his wife, Kay, have two children and currently live in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
 * Author Biography**

Curtis's most known published works include //The Watsons Go to Birmingham:1963// and //Bud, Not Buddy//. His other works include: //Bucking the Sarge, Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission, Mr. Chickee's Funny Money,// and //Elijah of Buxton// (2007). His next book is entitled //The Mighty Miss Malone// and is a spin-off of //Bud, Not Buddy.// Curtis has also written the introductions for the Aladdin Classics version of Harriet Beecher Stowe's //Uncle Tom's Cabin// and the Modern Library edition of Mark Twain's //The Prince and the Pauper.//
 * Other Children's Literature**

**Historical Context**
//Bud, Not Buddy// was received well by the public and book critics alike. It received many awards and mentions, including the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award. Other awards and mentions include a New York Times Notable book, a Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year, and an ALA Notable Children's book. In 2006, the novel became a stage adaptation by Reginald Andre Jackson and has been in production ever since.

**Major Themes**
Major themes in //Bud, Not Buddy// include race, family, innocence, and keeping your head up when things look bleak.

**Citations**
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud,_Not_Buddy 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Paul_Curtis