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From Publishers Weekly
A 10-year-old boy in
Depression-era Michigan sets out to find the man he believes to be his
father. "While the harshness of Bud's circumstances are authentically
depicted, Curtis imbues them with an aura of hope, and he makes readers
laugh even when he sets up the most daunting scenarios," said PW in our
Best Books citation. Ages 9-12. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7-When
10-year-old Bud Caldwell runs away from his new foster home, he
realizes he has nowhere to go but to search for the father he has never
known: a legendary jazz musician advertised on some old posters his
deceased mother had kept. A friendly stranger picks him up on the road
in the middle of the night and deposits him in Grand Rapids, MI, with
Herman E. Calloway and his jazz band, but the man Bud was convinced was
his father turns out to be old, cold, and cantankerous. Luckily, the
band members are more welcoming; they take him in, put him to work, and
begin to teach him to play an instrument. In a Victorian ending, Bud
uses the rocks he has treasured from his childhood to prove his
surprising relationship with Mr. Calloway. The lively humor contrasts
with the grim details of the Depression-era setting and the particular
difficulties faced by African Americans at that time. Bud is a plucky,
engaging protagonist. Other characters are exaggerations: the good ones
(the librarian and Pullman car porter who help him on his journey and
the band members who embrace him) are totally open and supportive,
while the villainous foster family finds particularly imaginative ways
to torture their charge. However, readers will be so caught up in the
adventure that they won't mind. Curtis has given a fresh, new look to a
traditional orphan-finds-a-home story that would be a crackerjack
read-aloud.
Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Grade 4-7-Motherless Bud
shares his amusingly astute rules of life as he hits the road to find
the jazz musician he believes is his father. A medley of characters
brings Depression-era Michigan to life. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Bud, 10, is on the run from the orphanage and from yet another mean
foster family. His mother died when he was 6, and he wants to find his
father. Set in Michigan during the Great Depression, this is an Oliver
Twist kind of foundling story, but it's told with affectionate comedy,
like the first part of Curtis' The Watsons Go to Birmingham
(1995). On his journey, Bud finds danger and violence (most of it
treated as farce), but more often, he finds kindness--in the food line,
in the library, in the Hooverville squatter camp, on the road--until he
discovers who he is and where he belongs. Told in the boy's naive,
desperate voice, with lots of examples of his survival tactics ("Rules
and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar out of
Yourself"), this will make a great read-aloud. Curtis says in an
afterword that some of the characters are based on real people,
including his own grandfathers, so it's not surprising that the rich
blend of tall tale, slapstick, sorrow, and sweetness has the wry,
teasing warmth of family folklore. Hazel Rochman
Review
An orphaned runaway, Bud copes with
the adult world with his numbered "Rules and Things." His few treasures
from his former life with "Momma," are kept in a battered suitcase.
One, a flyer advertising a musical group, leads him on a fantasy
journey to an amazing reality. A 1999 Gold Award Winner. Ages 10 and
up. (Kemie Nix, Parents' Choice®).
Review
"When 10-year-old Bud Caldwell runs
away from his new foster home, he realizes he has nowhere to go but to
search for the father he has never known: a legendary jazz musician
advertised on some old posters his deceased mother had kept. Curtis has
given a fresh, new look to a traditional orphan-finds-a-home story that
would be a crackerjack read-aloud."
-- Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC (School Library Journal )
Product Description
It’s 1936 Flint,
Michigan. Times may be hard, and 10-year-old Bud may be a motherless
boy, but Bud’s got a few things going for him: 1. He has his own
suitcase full of special things; 2. He’s the author of “Bud Caldwell’s
Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out
of Yourself”; 3. His momma never told him who his father was, but she
left a clue: posters of Herman E. Calloway and his band of renown, the
Dusky Devastators of the Depression. Bud is sure those posters will
lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road, nothing can
stop him, not hunger, not fear, not would-be vampires, not even Herman
E. Calloway himself.
From the Inside Flap
It?s 1936 Flint,
Michigan. Times may be hard, and 10-year-old Bud may be a motherless
boy, but Bud?s got a few things going for him: 1. He has his own
suitcase full of special things; 2. He?s the author of ?Bud Caldwell?s
Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out
of Yourself?; 3. His momma never told him who his father was, but she
left a clue: posters of Herman E. Calloway and his band of renown, the
Dusky Devastators of the Depression. Bud is sure those posters will
lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road, nothing can
stop him, not hunger, not fear, not would-be vampires, not even Herman
E. Calloway himself.
About the Author
Christopher Paul Curtis is the author of the Newbery Honor–winning The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963.
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