Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature)
It has really been hard for Bud since his Mama died--one foster home after another. When he runs away from a family that really mistreats him, all he knows is that his long lost father must be the famed jazz musician Herman E. Calloway. Otherwise, why would his Mama have kept the posters? Good luck and friendly folk help Bud reach Mr. Calloway, but his supposed daddy is none too welcoming. The band members and vocalist are just the opposite. Bud is a spunky and likable kid, and this book has a fairy tale ending--it all works out for Bud and readers are left with a truly warm and happy feeling. However, the hard times during the Depression and especially the difficulties faced by African Americans are not ignored. A fast read for individual readers and a great book to read aloud. 1999, Delacorte, $15.95. Ages 8 to 12.

Mary Quattlebaum (Children's Literature)
In a hymn to self-reliance Bud, Not Buddy is poignant and funny story is narrated by Bud Caldwell, a foster kid in search of the jazz-musician father he's never met. As Bud travels through Depression-era Michigan, young readers can experience Hoovervilles, big bands, and other signs of the times. A great read for black History Month. 1999, Delacorte, $15.95. Ages 8 to 12.

Jan Lieberman (Children's Literature)
Christopher Paul Curtis's star shines bright in his Newbery Medal winner, Bud, Not Buddy. A multi-layered, rhythmic story of Bud Caldwell, 10, who runs from his latest bad foster home to track down the man he believes is his father, bandleader H.E. Calloway. Why would his dead momma have kept flyers of Calloway if he wasn't his father? This journey begins when Bud leaves Flint, Michigan to walk to Grand Rapids to find Calloway. Along the way he meets a rich cast of characters who help him even though the going is tough. Never does Bud lose his humor or his purpose in life. The "Bud Caldwell Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself" are savvy and show Bud's street smarts, e.g. Rule #83--If an adult tells you not to worry, and your weren't worried before, you better hurry up and start 'cause you're already running late. It would be challenging to make a sound track of big band music from the '20s and '30s to accompany the story. 1999, Delacorte, $15.95. Ages 9 to 12.

Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
Children's book fans had a red-letter day when the Newbery Award was announced. Curtis' book follows a young African-American boy as he struggles to find a home during the Depression. The author takes on a difficult time and seemingly sad plot, but Bud, the hero, has humor and originality that will open new doors and understanding about this era. 1999, Delacorte, $15.95. Ages 10 up.

Mary Thomas (CM Magazine, February 4, 2000 (Vol. VI, No. 11))
It's Flint, Michigan; it's 1936; it's not a good time to be black,10-years-old, and an orphan. The previous four years since Bud's mother died haven't been great either. During those four years, however, the idea has grown in Bud's mind that all the flyers advertising Herman E.Caldwell and his variously named bands which, along with a few rocks with dates and places written on them and a picture of his mother as a six-year-old, were most of what he inherited from his mother, must mean that this Herman E. is his father. He, therefore, takes off from an abusive foster home and makes his way to Grand Rapids where he finds the band, and Herman E., who turns out to be not his father, but his grandfather. Bud is inadvertently the bearer of the bad news that Herman E.'s daughter, lost to him since she ran away from home when she was nineteen, is now dead and has been for four years - not a way to be a really welcome messenger! It is, however, fairly obvious at the end of the book that all is going to work out and that Bud will have a reasonably secure and happy future. In some ways, Bud, Not Buddy is like a fairy tale, especially in its ending, but the vignettes of life in the Dirty Thirties are also reminiscent of the hard times which need to be endured before that happy ending can occur, except that the hard times are all too real and give an exceedingly vivid picture of existence on the edge, sometimes on the literal edge. Every city, for example, has, on its outskirts, a "Hooverville" (so-called because, as Bud has it explained to him, "[President] Hoover worked so hard at making sure every city has got one that it seems like it would be criminal to call them anything else.") These shantytowns were camps where people lived or paused between jumping off one freight and catching another, places where, on the whole, differences were ignored under the equalizing forces of poverty and unemployment. The morning that Bud was going to jump a freight train to Chicago, the police move in. With thousands of desperate men wanting to ride the rails, the police give up attempting to prevent them. Instead, they tear down the tarpaper and cardboard shelters of the "town" and throw the rubble on the fire which had welcomed Bud the night before while leaving the women and children who remained with nowhere else to go, nowhere to go. Humour flashes out, frequently framed as one of "Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things For Having a Funnier Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself." Number 83, following Bud's Momma's saying, "Don't you worry, Bud, as soon as you get to be a young man I have a lot of things I'll explain to you," is: "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." These give poignant insights into the mind of a little boy who is, in some ways, street-wise and hardened ("My eyes don't cry no more", Bud explains matter-of-factly) and, in others, totally inexperienced. This is historical fiction, but of history not too far removed from our own time. In some ways, this makes it more difficult to get inside Bud's skin, but the effort is worth it. We rejoice when he finally finds some folks of his own, discovers jazz, and appears to be on the verge of getting a life. Some books widen horizons; this one stretches them out to Prairie dimensions. Winner of the 1999 Newbery Medal. Highly Recommended. Rating: **** /4. Grades 5-8. 1999, Delacorte Press (Distributed in Canada by Random House Canada), 245 pp., cloth, $24.95. Ages 10 to 13.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2000)
Ever since his mother died four years earlier, ten-year-old Bud Caldwell has been carrying around a small suitcase containing her mementos: a photo of his mother as a child, small stones with dates and places written on them, and a collection of old flyers advertising concerts by Herman E. Calloway's jazz band. Bud isn't sure what any of it means but he's certain that it holds clues to the identity of his father, someone he's determined to find after he runs away from the miserable foster home in which he was placed. Bud's adventures on and off the road in Depression-era Michigan are told in a charming hyperbolic narrative, filled with humor and insight. Details of African-American social history are skillfully woven into the action-packed story which is sure to be a hit with young readers. Honor book: CCBC Coretta Scott King Author Award Discussion. CCBC categories: Fiction for Children. 1999, Delacorte, 245 pages, $15.95. Ages 8-13.

Gail Lennon (Resource Links, December 1999 (Vol. 5, No. 2))
This poignant story outlines the quest of ten-year-old Buddy Caldwell to locate the man he thinks is his father. Set in north-central Michigan between Flint and Grand Rapids in 1936, it is the story of a group of children who are casualties of the Great Depression. Unable to look after them, their parents have given the children up for adoption. Upon his mother's death, Buddy becomes a ward of the orphanage when no relative steps forward to claim him. Throughout the book, Buddy refers to his Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar out of Yourself. His rules include such pieces of childhood wisdom as: "Never ever say something bad about someone you don't know--especially when you're around a bunch of strangers. You never can tell who might be kin to that person or who might be a lip-flapping big mouth or spy," and "Whenever a adult tells you to listen carefully and talks to you in a real calm voice, do not listen. Run as fast as you can because something real terrible is just around the corner, especially if the cops are chasing you." Buddy's quest for his would-be father, Herman E. Calloway ends in disappointment when he finds the musician only to discover that the man is mean and has no interest in him. However, in the course of his quest, Bud discovers who he is and where he belongs. The book provides some valuable lessons about growing up, relationships with others and dealing with adversity. It is an excellent acquisition for any school or public library and a worthy example of quality writing for any creative writing program. Thematic links include: Family; Personal Struggles; Quest; Orphans; Homeless; Survival; Helpers; Friendship; History--Depression; Creative Writing. Resource Links Rating: E (Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!), Grade 6 up. 1999, Delacorte Press, Hdbk, $24.95. Ages 11 up.

Janice M. Del Negro (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, November 1999 (Vol. 53, No. 3))
Bud Caldwell, age ten, has been living in a Flint, Michigan orphanage since his mother died when he was six years old. Sent to an abusive foster home, Bud runs away, intending to seek the man he believes to be his father, Herman E. Calloway, leader of a noted African-American jazz band. On the road Bud gets a ride with Lefty Lewis, a good-natured, good-hearted man who drives him to Grand Rapids, the location of Calloway’s band, where Bud finally finds the place he belongs. The story of Bud’s search is set against the background of the Great Depression, and Curtis evokes an atmosphere of need and despair held together by strands of hope and generosity. Individual scenes have tremendous emotional impact: Bud, too late to get a place in line for breakfast at the mission, is temporarily adopted by a family already in line; a confrontation in a freight yard between residents of a Flint Hooverville and Pinkerton detectives gives a sense of the determination of men desperate to feed their families; Bud’s encounter with Lefty Lewis on a dark road in the middle of the night circumspectly indicates the dangers of being Negro in a racist community. While the circumstances surrounding Bud’s return to his family may gently chafe against credulity, Curtis’ characterizations are so strong they make coincidence acceptable. The resourceful Bud is a hero readers will take immediately to heart, and the people he encounters on his journey have a specificity that raises them above plot devices and makes them individually memorable. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 1999, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1999, Delacorte, 245p, $15.95. Grades 5-8.

Michele Albion (The Five Owls, November/December 1999 (Vol. 14, No. 2))
I'm Bud, not Buddy," ten-year-old Bud Caldwell informs all comers. His mother taught him not to let anyone use anything but his proper name. She died when he was six. Since then, he taught himself not to cry. Nothing gets him down--not the orphanages; not being a skinny black boy in Flint, Michigan; not the Depression; and certainly not the son of his foster parents who sticks a Ticonderoga pencil up Bud's nose all the way to the 'R.' Bud's survival arises largely from his own code of behavior, called, "Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself." Among other things, the code interprets the underlying meaning of adult behavior, "When an Adult Tells You They Need Your Help with a Problem Get Ready to Be Tricked--Most Times This Means They Just Want You to Go Fetch Something to Them." After Bud leaves the orphanage and escapes from a foster home, he takes to the open road in a quest to find his father. He has only a few clues as to the man's identity, which he carries in his rope-tied suitcase. There are posters of the jazz band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression, and a bunch of ordinary rocks with numbers and letters. Somehow Bud reaches an epiphany: "It's funny how ideas are, in a lot of ways they're just like seeds. Both of them start real, real small and then...woop, zoop, sloop...before you can say Jack Robinson, they've gone and grown a lot bigger than you ever thought they could." He believes the bandleader, Herman E. Calloway is his father. Adventures abound as Bud searches for his father. He travels cross-country from Flint to Grand Rapids. On the way he stays overnight at a city called Hooverville, tries to hop a train, and experiences his first kiss. "I'd practiced on the back of my hand before, but this was the first time I'd ever busted slob with a real live girl." But nothing will prepare him for meeting Herman E. Calloway. As in his first book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, author Christopher Paul Curtis excels at character development. Bud's junior philosopher personality leaps off the page. He completely captures what it is like to be ten with his depiction of adult-child relations and childhood traumas like losing teeth, writing "...no matter how hard you try to stop it, [your tongue] won't leave the new hole in your mouth alone, it keeps digging around in the spot where that tooth used to be." He further succeeds in conveying the challenges of the Great Depression and complexities of race relations in difficult times. Bud, Not Buddy, is destined for critical acclaim as well as bestseller status. 1999, Delacorte Press, 8-5/9 x 5-7/9, 254 pages, $15.95. Ages 8 to 12.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2000)
It's the Depression, and Bud is ten and has been in and out of the Flint, Michigan, children's home and foster homes since his mother died. After a particularly terrible, though riotously recounted, evening with his latest foster family, Bud decides to take off and find the man he believes is his father, bandleader Herman E. Calloway. Bud's fresh voice keeps the sentimentality to a minimum, and the story zips along in step with Bud's own panache. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 1999, Delacorte, 245pp, $15.95. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.

Sally Meyers (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 12, No. 3))
BUD, NOT BUDDY is what ten-year-old Bud Calloway answers when people ask him his name. His life possessions are in a battered old suitcase that he keeps with him at all times. His mom died six years ago and left him an orphan. She never told him who his father is, but Bud is convinced that flyers of Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! are the clues his mom left for him to find his father. Bud also has rocks with dates on them that his mother gave him. The adventures of Bud begin in an orphanage in Flint, Michigan, in 1936, when he is once more chosen for a foster home. He escapes from this abusive foster home, and since he has nowhere to go, Bud decides to use the clues his mother left him to find his father. As with his award-winning The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963, Christopher Curtis writes with humor, portraying some of the difficulties of Afro-Americans during the Depression and especially the fears of a homeless boy. This is a classroom or family read-aloud that has laugh-out-loud humor and exciting adventure that keep the pages turning quickly. Fiction, Highly Recommended. Grades 3 and up. 1999, Delacorte, 245p, $15.95. Ages 8 up.

Beth E. Andersen (VOYA, February 2000 (Vol. 22, No. 6))
Curtis's magical touch in his debut novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 (Delacorte, 1995), is once again evident in all its powerful, funny glory in his latest lovely novel. Ten-year-old Bud Caldwell, wise beyond his years, is hit particularly hard by the Depression in 1936. Bud has been bounced back and forth between a Flint, Michigan, orphanage and foster care since his mother died when he was six. Fed up with beatings from those who take him in, Bud grabs his few meager treasures and sets out in search of his father. With determination and a cautious but curious spirit, Bud heads for Grand Rapids, home of Herman E. Calloway, legendary bass player and leader of a renowned jazz band. Convinced that Calloway is his long-lost father, Bud seeks a reunion. Bud's only guidebook is Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar out of Yourself, his own set of poignant, riotous tips for preserving sanity. In a scene of stunning hilarity, Bud is rescued by Lefty Lewis, who takes Bud to Grand Rapids, where the child learns yet again that life is not always what it seems. Curtis writes with a razor-sharp intelligence that grabs the reader by the heart and never lets go. His utterly believable depiction of the self-reliant charm and courage of Bud, not Buddy, puts this highly-recommended title at the top of the list of books to be read again and again. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P M J (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 1999, Delacorte, 272p, $15.95. Ages 11 to 15.