Bud, not Buddy

Bud, Not Buddy

by Christopher Paul Curtis

Publisher: Random House Children’s Books 1999 243 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction, Family Life, Action, and Adventure

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: This book is based during the Great Depression. Bud Caldwell is an orphan who runs away from the foster home that he is sent to, after the son of the family sticks a pencil up his nose as he slept and he was thrown into the shed by the parents. He goes from Flint, Michigan to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to try and find his father. He thought that he had found him but it turns out that the man he found out was his father turned out to be his grandfather and Bud moves in with him.

Response: The feeling of being lost that is experienced by Bud is very characteristic of the time period. I really liked this book. I especially liked that it had a happy ending.