Has there ever been a time when you picked up a book and within the first few pages began rooting (sp) for the main character? For me this is rare. It usually takes a while for me to "warm-up" to the main character or even a secondary character. However, in "Bud, Not Buddy" written by Christopher Paul Curtis, I found myself in his corner immediately.
When you first meet Bud, you discover he is a young boy around the age of 10. He has already lived four years in an orphanage and all Bud has to his name is an old warn out suitcase and the contents inside. The suitcase is so old it is held together by twine. His mother died when he was six, thus, the has lived the last four years in the "Home".
Bud Caldwell has been in several foster homes for short periods of time. On his last visit, a switch or something inside him turned on and he decided to go on the lam. He simply took off and decided to seek out his birth father. As every boy dreams, his daddy will want him and welcome him with open arms.
The setting is the depression, money, jobs, and food are hard to come by. Although these barriers do not stop Bud we travel with him on his journey to find his father who lives in Grand Rapids, only 20 or so miles away from the "Home". Bud is positive that his father, Herman E. Calloway, lives in Grand Rapids because of the 3-4 flyers he has in his suitcase.
As you read Bud, Not Buddy, you can help but cheer for him. It seems as if every corner Bud turns down there is someone or something there to dismantle his dream. This boy is polite, determined, persistant, and always looking at the cup of life as half-full.
In the end, Bud does find his family. Although the reader knows that life is life and that a Disneyland ending of happy-ever-after will not happen, you realize that happy-ever-after is just knowing that you are home with people who love you.
When you first meet Bud, you discover he is a young boy around the age of 10. He has already lived four years in an orphanage and all Bud has to his name is an old warn out suitcase and the contents inside. The suitcase is so old it is held together by twine. His mother died when he was six, thus, the has lived the last four years in the "Home".
Bud Caldwell has been in several foster homes for short periods of time. On his last visit, a switch or something inside him turned on and he decided to go on the lam. He simply took off and decided to seek out his birth father. As every boy dreams, his daddy will want him and welcome him with open arms.
The setting is the depression, money, jobs, and food are hard to come by. Although these barriers do not stop Bud we travel with him on his journey to find his father who lives in Grand Rapids, only 20 or so miles away from the "Home". Bud is positive that his father, Herman E. Calloway, lives in Grand Rapids because of the 3-4 flyers he has in his suitcase.
As you read Bud, Not Buddy, you can help but cheer for him. It seems as if every corner Bud turns down there is someone or something there to dismantle his dream. This boy is polite, determined, persistant, and always looking at the cup of life as half-full.
In the end, Bud does find his family. Although the reader knows that life is life and that a Disneyland ending of happy-ever-after will not happen, you realize that happy-ever-after is just knowing that you are home with people who love you.
AR SCORE: 100%
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