Bud, Not Buddy in Around the Year in 52 Books

Feb 15, 2013 Book Concierge rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: library, children-s-literature, music, orphans, audio, historical-fiction, middle-school, favorite, family, vampires

Audio book performed by James Avery.
5***** and a ❤

In Depression-era Flint, Michigan, 10-year-old Bud Caldwell (BUD, not Buddy) is plucked from the “home” to go to a foster family. This will be the third foster home he’s been in, and he’s not impressed. But he takes his worn, cardboard suitcase with his few but treasured possessions and tries to make the best of it. Before he knows it, he’s on the lam, determined to find his own way and sure that the things his Momma left him are clues to his fa Audio book performed by James Avery.
5***** and a ❤

In Depression-era Flint, Michigan, 10-year-old Bud Caldwell (BUD, not Buddy) is plucked from the “home” to go to a foster family. This will be the third foster home he’s been in, and he’s not impressed. But he takes his worn, cardboard suitcase with his few but treasured possessions and tries to make the best of it. Before he knows it, he’s on the lam, determined to find his own way and sure that the things his Momma left him are clues to his father’s identity and whereabouts.

I love Bud. He’s imaginative, intelligent, resourceful, well-mannered, curious, and ever-hopeful. Once he’s decided to find the man he is sure is his father, nothing will stop him. He endures hunger and fear, but also comes across kind-hearted men and women who help him (though he isn’t always forthcoming about his goal, and outright lies about his situation more than once). He’s also quite the philosopher – having compiled a list of Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Thing for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself. Among my favorites: Rule # 83 - If a Adult Tells You Not to Worry, and You Weren’t Worried Before, You Better Hurry Up and Start, ‘Cause You’re Already Running Late.

Curtis doesn’t gloss over the difficulties faced by many during the Great Depression, giving the reader a history lesson on the conditions in Hoovervilles across America. But he also shows that with determination, hard work, and compassion people survived the hardships and formed lasting bonds. As an adult, I really appreciated the afterword wherein Curtis explains some of his own family history and suggests, no orders, the reader to “Go talk to Grandma and Grandpa, Mom and Dad, and other relatives and friends.”

James Avery is marvelous performing the audio book. Heck, I was scared when Bud was in the shed with the “vampires” and fish-guards! And at the end, my eyes started that same “stingy-eyed blinking” that afflicted Miss Thomas.
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Nov 30, 2017 Michelle Gragg rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kid-lit, newberry

This story is set in the Great Depression. It follows a young orphan who surprises the man he thinks is his father. The story incorporates jazz, racism, historical perspective, and self determination themes. I enjoyed Bud the main character and the Jazz band he finds himself a part of. The theme of kindness pervades the story even though the secondary character is gruff and mean.

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Jul 02, 2014 Beth Given rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: newbery, blm

A readable Newbery winner with an endearing, relatable, spunky-but-polite protagonist: Bud (not Buddy!). I liked the history that was introduced to the young readers through the story: race issues, unionizing railroad workers, Hoovervilles, the jazz era. What was especially neat was that two of the main characters were based on people from the author's own grandfathers (though you don't find that out until the "afterword").

I do feel like the story ended a little abruptly, but for some reason I s ...more

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