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====**__ Bud, Not Buddy __** __By Christopher Paul Curtis__ Bud's mother has been dead for four years when this novel opens and Bud is in an orphanage. He holds all the remnants of his once loving home in a cardboard suitcase: some flyers advertising Herman E. Calloway and various bands, a few mysteriously labeled rocks and his blanket. Soon he is shipped to a foster home where he is abused. After pausing to wreak a funny, mild vengeance, Bud strikes out on his own, determined to walk from Flint, Michigan to Grand Rapids, the city listed in one of the flyers. Bud is convinced that his father must be Herman E. Calloway. There are, of course, many set-backs on the way and many people who lend a hand. At the mission where Bud is too late for the evening meal, another homeless family pretends that he's with them. A very kind man who turns out to be a labor union organizer finds Bud hiding at the side of the road near a very intolerant village and takes Bud home to his own family before transporting him to his supposed father. Having reached his destination, Bud's search must continue. He is still a child in search of family as it turns out that the musician cannot possibly be his father. Bud's irrepressible good nature, his innocence and his survival skills make him memorable. His literal interpretation of language, his belief system which includes vampires, tokens and ritual behavior all serve to allow us to see the world through the eyes of a ten year old. The setting in the 30s, the height of the Great Depression and the small tastes of racism that the author weaves in so skillfully make this book stand head and shoulders above the crowd. This book was published in 1999 by Bantam Double Day Publishing Group. ====