“Don’t tell no one, but I lit out from a foster home, so now I’m on the lam” (74). It’s the year 1936, in Flint, Michigan and Bud is a 10-year-old “black kid”
who hasn’t had a real family since the age of six. He lives in a “home”, doesn’t know his father, and is running from the cops. At least he knows who to look for: Herman E. Calloway “and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!!” (Back cover). Why? His mother left flyers advertising them: so Herman E. Calloway must be Bud’s father!


Bud, Not Buddy is a great book about trust, friendship, and it shows that a little patience can go a long way. Christopher Paul Curtis has written a number of good books and his second book, Bud, Not Buddy, was the first book to ever get the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award. Mr. Curtis was born in Flint, Michigan, where he bases most of his books. His books are all very well put together and I didn’t want to stop reading!


I think that this book is great for anyone who likes realistic fiction books that are based off of African American slavery. This book, on a scale of one to ten, was an easy ten. Every reader will enjoy Bud, Not Buddy.