Introduction
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Follow the adventures of ten-year-old Bud as he sets out in search of this father. Set in Flint, Michigan during the Great Depression, Bud heads toward Grand Rapids where he hopes to meet the well-known Big Band leader H.E. Calloway who Bud believes is his father.
It is 1936, in Flint, Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud's got a few things going for him:
1. He has his own suitcase filled with his own important, secret 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: flyers of Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!!
Bud's got an idea that those flyers will lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road and find this mystery man, nothing can stop him--not hunger, not fear, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself.
Bud, Not Buddy is a wonderful work of historical fiction written by Christopher Paul Curtis. It was awarded the 2000 Newbery as well as the Coretta Scott King Award.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Christopher Paul Curtis is the author of The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, one of the most highly acclaimed first novels for young readers in recent years. It was singled out for many awards, among them a Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor, and has been a bestseller in hardcover and paperback.
Christopher Paul Curtis grew up in Flint, Michigan. After high school he began working on the assembly line at the Fisher Body Flint Plant No. 1 while attending the Flint branch of the University of Michigan. Today he is a full-time writer. He and his wife, Kay, have two children, Steven and Cydney. The Curtis family lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Task
During "Bud, not Buddy you will have the opportunity to think about the hardships that the American people experienced during this time in history. Through the homeless main character, you will explore the themes of family, survival, and hope. Challenge yourself to think about how racism further threatened the lives of African Americans during this period. Though the living conditions in the novel seem bleak, the main character never loses his sense of humor and offers students a survival story with a happy ending.
Process
Section 1 - Pre- Reading Activity
What are three causes of the Great Depression?
How did it affect families of all socioeconomic levels?
Follow the following links to find answers to the first two questions. Remember to write in complete sentences.
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http://www.sos.state.mi.us/history/museum/explore/museums/hismus/1900-75/depressn/labnews2.html
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http://oasis.bellevue.k12.wa.us/sammamish/sstudies.dir/hist_docs.dir/grtdepression.mn.html
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http://www.escape.com/~paulg53/politics/great_depression.shtml
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http://history.acusd.edu/gen/classes/civ18/causes-depression.html
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http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/depression/problems.html
Bud, the main character in the novel, is homeless and goes to a mission for a hot meal.
Find out other types of organizations that helped people during the Great Depression.
What organizations in Atlanta and Johns Creek provide food and shelter for the homeless today? Name three.
The following sites will help you find the answers to the questions:
http://www.socialpolicy.ca/cush/m2/m2-t14.stm
http://www.socialpolicy.ca/cush/m2/m2-t15.stm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rails/timeline/index.html
Euphemism is a word used to soften the meaning of a word that may suggest something unpleasant. For example, Bud says, "I don't know why grown folks can't say someone is dead, they think it's a lot easier to say gone." (p.178) Determine the meaning of the following euphemisms.
1. Less favored by beauty
2. Plenty of room for improvement
3. Tears were my only company
4. Borrowed money without asking
Look at the following site for help.
Explain the metaphor, "The idea that had started as a teeny-weeny seed in a suitcase was now a mighty maple." (p.146)
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What is the "seed"?
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The "mighty maple"?
- Find three other examples of figurative language in the novel
Section 2 -
Describe what life was like in a "Hooverville." Use the novel as well as the following sites’ for information. Write an eight-sentence paragraph beginning with a topic sentence.
List ten items you would need if you were to “ride the rails” with Bugs and Bud.
Check out the following sites on “riding the rails”:
Hobo Life - http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/amod2002/chap13/webact.shtml
Riding the Rails - http://web.olivet.edu/gradusers/nhenric1/Riding.html
American Experience- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rails/filmmore/transcript/index.html
Section 3 -
Invent a band that might have been traveling at the same time as the band in the book, create a name for the band, identify the members and the instruments they play, and create a poster for the band.
- Book Connections: Flyer description (pages 6-8), names and instruments (page 153-154)
- All That Jazz - http://atj.8k.com/
- Golden Age of Jazz - http://www.jazzphotos.com/
Vocabulary/Use of Language Find unfamiliar words and try to define them from the context of the story. Such words may include: urchins (p.12), ingratitude (p.14), vermin (p.15), matrimonial (p. 56), devoured (p. 91), ventriloquists (p.101), sully (p.141), embouchure (p.194), and prodigy (p.196), plus five other words you found on your own.
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Word
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Page #
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Your definition from context
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Dictionary definition
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Urchins
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12
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Ingratitude
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14
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Vermin
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15
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Matrimonial
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56
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Devoured
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91
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Ventriloquists
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101
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Sully
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141
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Embouchure
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194
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Prodigy
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196
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