Bud, Not Buddy

Bud, Not Buddy
Front Cover of Bud, Not Buddy.
Author	Christopher Paul Curtis
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Teen Novel, Multicultural Literature, Historical Fiction
Publisher	Delacorte Books for Adult Readers
Publication date	September 2, 1999
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	245 pages
ISBN	0-385-32306-9
OCLC	40744296
LC Class	PZ7.C94137 Bu 1999

Bud, Not Buddy is a children's novel written by Christopher Paul Curtis, published in 1999. The book is the recipient of the 2000 Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature. Christopher Paul Curtis was also recognized with the 2000 Coretta Scott King Award, an award given to outstanding African American authors.^[1][2]

Plot summary

Bud, Not Buddy is the story of ten-year old Bud Caldwell, an orphan living in Flint, Michigan. It takes place in 1936 during the Great Depression. Since the death of his mother four years ago, Bud has been living in an orphanage and had short stints in several foster homes. The few items Bud has left of his mother include: a bag of rocks, a photograph of his mother as a child and fliers that show Herman E. Calloway and his jazz band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression. The story opens with Bud being placed with a new foster family, the Amoses. Bud soon meets Todd Amos, their tormenting 12-year-old son. After a fight with Todd, Bud is forced to spend the night in the garden shed. In the shed, Bud mistakes a hornets’ nest for a vampire bat and hits the nest with a rake. This upsets the hornets and Bud gets stung. After escaping the shed, Bud takes revenge on Todd by making him wet his bed. He then escapes and sleeps under a Christmas tree for the night. His friend Bugs wakes him up to go together to the west to find work. With his friend Bugs, Bud sets off and finds Hooverville. Their stay does not last beyond the next morning as Hooverville is torched. As a result Bugs is able to hop on the train, leaving Bud in the distance.

After this fiasco, Bud determines to seek out Herman E. Calloway, believing the man is his father. With suitcase in hand, Bud starts walking the 120 miles to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Along the way, he is picked up by Lefty Lewis from Grand Rapids, who is on his way to Flint. Bud tells him that he was running away from his home in Grand Rapids, and Lewis agrees to drive him back to Grand Rapids the following day. Bud stays the night in Mrs.Sleet's house(Lefty's daughter) and the next morning has breakfast with Lefty, his daughter and her two children. Lefty drives Bud to the club where the Dusky Devastators are currently performing. Bud manages to convince the band to allow him to stay at their home, despite Calloway's reluctance to acknowledge Bud as his son. The band takes Bud under their collective wing, and he comes with them on tour. After their first concert together, he notices Calloway picking up a rock and writing the date and location of the concert on it. When Bud shows Calloway the rocks that Bud's mother kept, Calloway accuses him of stealing them from his house. The other band members intervene, and upon further questioning, the band members realize that Bud's mother is Calloway's estranged daughter, making Bud his long-lost grandson.

Stage adaptation

Bud, Not Buddy was adapted for the stage by Reginald Andre Jackson for Black History Month, Fremont, California. The production premiered at Langston Hughes Cultural Arts Center in 2006. It was mounted several times hence, including at the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Main Street Theatre in Houston and the University of Michigan-Flint. Jackson's adaptation was published by Dramatic Publishing in 2009, and won the Distinguished Play Award from The American Alliance for Theatre and Education in 2010.

References