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Bud, Not Buddy
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$ 6.15
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$ 0.84 (12%) |
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| Item Number |
157320 |
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Item Description...
Overview
Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.
Publishers Description
It's 1936, in Flint, Michigan, and when 10-year-old Bud decides to hit the road to find his father, nothing can stop him.
Christopher Paul Curtis is the author of the Newbery Honor–winning The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963.
CHAPTER 1
Here we go again. We were all standing in line waiting for breakfast when one of the caseworkers came in and tap-tap-tapped down the line. Uh-oh, this meant bad news, either they'd found a foster home for somebody or somebody was about to get paddled. All the kids watched the woman as she moved along the line, her high-heeled shoes sounding like little firecrackers going off on the wooden floor.
Shoot! She stopped at me and said, “Are you Buddy Caldwell?”
I said, “It's Bud, not Buddy, ma'am.”
She put her hand on my shoulder and took me out of line. Then she pulled Jerry, one of the littler boys, over. “Aren't you Jerry Clark?” He nodded.
“Boys, good news! Now that the school year has ended, you both have been accepted in new temporary-care homes starting this afternoon!”
Jerry asked the same thing I was thinking. “Together?”
She said, “Why, no. Jerry, you'll be in a family with three little girls . . .”
Jerry looked like he'd just found out they were going to dip him in a pot of boiling milk.
“. . . and Bud . . .” She looked at some papers she was holding. “Oh, yes, the Amoses, you'll be with Mr. and Mrs. Amos and their son, who's twelve years old, that makes him just two years older than you, doesn't it, Bud?”
“Yes, ma'am.”
She said, “I'm sure you'll both be very happy.”
Me and Jerry looked at each other.
The woman said, “Now, now, boys, no need to look so glum. I know you don't understand what it means, but there's a depression going on all over this country. People can't find jobs and these are very, very difficult times for everybody. We've been lucky enough to find two wonderful families who've opened their doors for you. I think it's best that we show our new foster families that we're very . . .”
She dragged out the word very, waiting for us to finish her sentence for her.
Jerry said, “Cheerful, helpful and grateful.” I moved my lips and mumbled.
She smiled and said, “Unfortunately, you won't have time for breakfast. I'll have a couple of pieces of fruit put in a bag. In the meantime go to the sleep room and strip your beds and gather all of your things.”
Here we go again. I felt like I was walking in my sleep as I followed Jerry back to the room where all the boys' beds were jim-jammed together. This was the third foster home I was going to and I'm used to packing up and leaving, but it still surprises me that there are always a few seconds, right after they tell you you've got to go, when my nose gets all runny and my throat gets all choky and my eyes get all sting-y. But the tears coming out doesn't happen to me anymore, I don't know when it first happened, but it seems like my eyes don't cry no more.
Jerry sat on his bed and I could tell that he was losing the fight not to cry. Tears were popping out of his eyes and slipping down his cheeks.
I sat down next to him and said, “I know being in a house with three girls sounds terrible, Jerry, but it's a lot better than being with a boy who's a couple of years older than you. I'm the one who's going to have problems. A older boy is going to want to fight, but those little girls are going to treat you real good. They're going to treat you like some kind of special pet or something.”
Jerry said, “You really think so?”
I said, “I'd trade you in a minute. The worst thing that's going to happen to you is that they're going to make you play house a lot. They'll probably make you be the baby and will hug you and do this kind of junk to you.” I tickled Jerry under his chin and said, “Ga-ga goo-goo, baby-waby.”
Jerry couldn't help but smile. I said, “You're going to be great.”
Jerry looked like he wasn't so scared anymore so I went over to my bed and started getting ready.
Even though it was me who was in a lot of trouble I couldn't help but feel sorry for Jerry. Not only because he was going to have to live around three girls, but also because being six is a real rough age to be at. Most folks think you start to be a real adult when you're fifteen or sixteen years old, but that's not true, it really starts when you're around six.
It's at six that grown folks don't think you're a cute little kid anymore, they talk to you and expect that you understand everything they mean. And you'd best understand too, if you aren't looking for some real trouble, 'cause it's around six that grown folks stop giving you little swats and taps and jump clean up to giving you slugs that'll knock you right down and have you seeing stars in the middle of the day. The first foster home I was in taught me that real quick.
Six is a bad time too 'cause that's when some real scary things start to happen to your body, it's around then that your teeth start coming a-loose in your mouth.
You wake up one morning and it seems like your tongue is the first one to notice that something strange is going on, 'cause as soon as you get up there it is pushing and rubbing up against one of your front teeth and I'll be doggoned if that tooth isn't the littlest bit wiggly.
At first you think it's kind of funny, but the tooth keeps getting looser and looser and one day, in the middle of pushing the tooth back and forth and squinching your eyes shut, you pull it clean out. It's the scariest thing you can think of 'cause you lose control of your tongue at the same time and no matter how hard you try to stop it, it won't leave the new hole in your mouth alone, it keeps digging around in the spot where that tooth used to be.
You tell some adult about what's happening but all they do is say it's normal. You can't be too sure, though, 'cause it shakes you up a whole lot more than grown folks think it does when perfectly good parts of your body commence to loosening up and falling off of you.
Unless you're as stupid as a lamppost you've got to wonder what's coming off next, your arm? Your leg? Your neck? Every morning when you wake up it seems a lot of your parts aren't stuck on as good as they used to be.
Six is real tough. That's how old I was when I came to live here in the Home. That's how old I was when Momma died.
I folded the blanket and sheet and set them back on the mattress. Then I reached under the bed to get my suitcase. Most of the kids in the Home keep their things in a paper or cloth sack, but not me. I have my own suitcase.
I set it on the mattress and untied the twine that held it together. I did what I do every night before I go to sleep, I checked to make sure everything was there. The way there're more and more kids coming into the Home every day, I had to make sure no one had run off with any of my things.
First I pulled my blanket out and saw that everything was where it was supposed to be. At the bottom of my suitcase were the flyers. I took the blue flyer out and looked at it again.
The paper was starting to wear out from me looking at it so much but I liked checking to see if there was anything I hadn't noticed before. It was like something was telling me there was a message for me on this flyer but I didn't have the decoder ring to read what it was.
Across the top of the flyer writ in big black letters were the words limited engagement, then in little letters it said, “Direct from an S.R.O. engagement in New York City.” Underneath that in big letters again it said, “herman e. calloway and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!!”
Those six exclamation points made it seem like this was the most important news anyone could think of, seems like you'd have to be really great to deserve all of those exclamation points all stacked up in a row like that.
Next the paper said, “Masters of the New Jazz,” then in the middle of the flyer was a blurry picture of the man I have a real good suspicion about. I've never met him, but I have a pretty good feeling that this guy must be my father.
In the picture he's standing next to a giant fiddle that's taller than him. It looks like it's real heavy 'cause he's leaning up against it trying to hold it up. He looks like he's been doing this for a long time and he must be tired 'cause he has a droopy, dreamy look on his face. There are two men beside him, one playing drums and the other one blowing a horn.
It wasn't hard to see what the guy who must be my father was like just by looking at his picture. You could tell he was a real quiet, real friendly and smart man, he had one of those kind of faces. Underneath the picture someone had writ with a black fountain pen, “One Night Only in Flint, Michigan, at the Luxurious Fifty Grand on Saturday June 16, 1932. 9 Until ?”
I remember Momma bringing this flyer with her when she came from working one day, I remember because she got very upset when she put it on the supper table and kept looking at it and picking it up and putting it back and moving it around. I was only six then and couldn't understand why this one got her so upset, she kept four others that were a lot like it in her dressing table, but this one really got her jumpy. The only difference I could see between the blue one and the others was that the others didn't say anything about Flint on them.
I remember this blue one too 'cause it wasn't too long after she brought it home that I knocked on Momma's bedroom door, then found her.
I put the blue flyer back in the suitcase with the four older ones and put everything back in its place.
I went over to the big chest of drawers and took my other set of clothes out and put them in the suitcase too. I tied the twine back around my bag, then went and sat on Jerry's bed with him. Jerry must've been thinking just as hard as I was 'cause neither one of us said nothing, we just sat close enough so that our shoulders were touching.
Here we go again. |
Item Specifications...
Pages 256
Dimensions: Length: 0.75" Width: 5" Height: 7.75"
Weight: 0.35 lbs.
Binding Softcover
Release Date Jan 8, 2002
Publisher Yearling
Age 9-12
ISBN 0440413281
EAN 9780440413288
UPC 071009005990
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Availability 313 units.
Availability accurate as of May 25, 2012 09:39.
Usually ships within one to two business days from Commerce GA.
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About this Author/Artist <b>Christopher Paul Curtis</b> is the author of the Newbery Honor–winning The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | Bud, Not Buddy_Literature Review May 13, 2008 |
It is in our most difficult times that we discover our true character and that of those around us. This type of discovery is at the heart of the tale of Bud, the 10 year-old main character of Bud, Not Buddy (Random House 1999), a novel by Christopher Paul Curtis. In this wonderful piece of historical fiction, Curtis artfully crafts Bud's story, weaving together inspiration, humor, and the realities of the Great Depression to create a heartwarming and upbeat story about the power of the human spirit.
Bud's story is a fast-paced narrative describing a resilient, determined orphan in search of a new home at a time that was difficult for many Americans. After running away from an abusive foster family, Bud is forced to move through a difficult world in search of a compassionate and caring new home that he hopes he will find with the man he believes to be his father. Armed with a beat-up suitcase filled with all of his possessions and only a flyer as his guide, Bud sets out to find a better life and ends up finding more than he could have imagined.
In his search, Bud encounters a number of helpful and interesting individuals who assist him along the way. At one point, Bud meets a homeless family who helps him sneak into a line to get bread. Bud also encounters a shantytown, known as a Hooverville, where families sleep in tents after becoming homeless. Bud meets families who wait while fathers and husbands hop trains in search of work. Bud's tale recounts the difficulties for many individuals, especially African Americans, during the Great Depression. Throughout his travels, Bud encounters the difficulties of finding food, shelter, and money, as he looks to others and his own strength to continue his journey.
Fortunately, Bud meets a number of individuals who are willing to share the little bit that they have in order to help him. Bud's search eventually leads him to the man in the poster that he believed to be his father. Although Bud's final destination may not be exactly what he thought when he set out, it is exactly what he needed. Despite the difficult times, Bud's journey is a heartwarming tale about the compassion of strangers, the beauty of music, and the power of family.
Curtis' novel is a great read for families and a perfect selection for middle school children. The 243-page novel moves quickly as Curtis' narrative-style leaps off the page. Based on the Fry readability formula, this book has a fifth grade reading level, but it may be a great for students above that level as well. Although the realities of the Great Depression may be difficult for younger readers to grasp, the life lessons that Bud encounters are valuable for any student. Despite the bleakness and difficulty of the historical setting, Curtis does an excellent job of describing the strength and compassion of the individuals. I personally enjoyed this book a great deal and would recommend it to others.
| | |  | Bud, Not Buddy Apr 28, 2008 |
| My 3rd grade class really enjoyed listening to this story. The adventures of Bud, while many times being funny, touch my students and help them to see what another 8 year old in a past era had to endure. Great story line. | | | | An Engaging Adventure for Reluctant Readers Feb 13, 2008 |
| I am the parent of a 6th-grade reluctant reader. Luckily, he will still cuddle up to listen to a good book read out loud, though his preference is for plots involving dragons, elves, and convoluted quests. I have occasionally been able to slip in a more realistic novel, but more often than not, my son will dismiss it as "BORING" just as I am getting absorbed. "Bud, Not Buddy" has been an exception. Bud comes across as a real kid with a real kid's voice and my son has found himself drawn to the character as well as the adventure (and it is quite an adventure that Bud has). I appreciate Curtis's ability to conjure Flint, Michigan, and the Depression so vividly for the reader and I love the incidental learning that goes along with the story, from the existence of Hooverville(s) to the early days of unionizing. I highly recommend this book for 10-12 year-old kids and their parents. It is a wonderful book to read out loud. | | |  | easy-to-read coming of age tale of a smart kid in the Great Depression Dec 16, 2007 |
| Ten-year-old Bud, living during the Great Depression in Flint, Michigan, was left after his mother's death with only a suitcase of band fliers and a bag of stones. He leaves his latest foster home and ventures on a Steinbeck-like odyssey to find his father--whom his believes to be the man on the fliers. Excellent coming of age tale that beautifully captures the voice of both a young adult and the time period. Grade: B+ | | | | A pretty good book Dec 14, 2007 |
The book I read was Bud, Not Buddy. It was by Christopher Paul Curtis. He also wrote The Watsons Go to Birmingham. This book was Historical fiction.
In this book Bud was adopted from an orphanage. He goes to live with this really mean family who locks him in a shed. He breaks out and runs away to a library. On the second night at the library his friend Bugs finds him. Together they walk to Hooperville. They were going to hop a train that left from Hooperville the next morning. Bugs makes the train but Bud doesn't. Bud walks back to Flint and back to the library to get direction on how to get to another town called Great Rapids. He was told it was a twenty-four hour walk. He started to go to Great Rapids that evening. One guy saw Bud and asked where he was from and why he was walking to. Bud lied and said he was from Great Rapids. The guy drives Bud to Great Rapids and drops him off at his dad's house. Bud's dad didn't know he had a son so he was confused.
I like this book because it tell me about people who aren't as lucked as I am. I think this book would be good for greedy kids because it teaches them how they are luckier than others. I was inspired by this book because of the message it sent out. I recommend this book for all kids because it is really good.
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