Book Review:Bud, not Buddy – Christopher Paul Curtis #6

Title: Bud, not Buddy
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis.
Publisher: New York : Delacorte Press, 1999.
Number of pages: 245
Genre: Historical Fiction
ISBN: 0385323069
Recommend to: age 8 and up
Lexile: 950

Christopher Paul Curtis website
Awards:
ALA Notable Children’s Books: 2000
Coretta Scott King Award
School Library Journal Best Books: 1999
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults: 2000
Synopsis:
Set during the Depression era, this is the story of Bud – an African American young man whose mother died when he was six. Bud lives in an orphanage and then a foster home. His experience in both places is so miserable he decides to run away. He has flyers his mother kept from a Jazz band and he hopes that by meeting up with the band he will find out who his dad is. Will he find the band? Will he find his Dad? Read to find out.
Analysis:
This book is genuinely funny. I laughed at several of his descriptions of Bud’s life. At the same time it is very sad. The Depression was a tough time period but for an orphan it must have been horrible. I loved the epilogue; his explanation about how the characters in the book are loosely based on his own family members is very motivational.