kids'books

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Newbery Medal (writing for children) and Coretta Scott King Author Award (writing by an African-American author)

Gist Even in Depression-era Flint, Mich., a resourceful and imaginative young boy like Bud can find happiness and a place to belong.

Message When one door closes, another opens. Make the best of your situation.

Caldecott Medal (excellence in illustration)

Gist Creatively constructed picture book from the illustrator of classics such as There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and Too Much Noise.

Message Thriftiness: "You can always make something out of nothing."

Newbery Honor Book (writing for children)

Gist Fans of Tomie DePaola's books may enjoy this gentle first chapter book set during DePaola's fifth year. The book is an affectionate reminiscence of family and childhood friends, which may please adults more than its target audience of early readers.

Worldview Sentimental

Michael L. Printz Award (literature for young adults)

Gist To keep his anger and fear under control, the teenage protagonist writes a screenplay of his trial, which reveals elliptically the choices he made that led to his current situation. Interspersed with the text of the screenplay are emotional journal entries that show his struggle to figure out who he is, how others perceive him, and the nature of guilt.

Message Existentialist: You are what you choose.

Caution Language, prison violence

Michael L. Printz Award (literature for young adults)

Gist From its handwritten pages, to its funky layout, Hard Love screams "I'm hip." It features selfish, distant, and overbearing parents and a confused young man who only awakens emotionally after meeting a teenage lesbian "zine" writer. She teaches him to confront his parents and embrace his difference.

Worldview Existentialist: Authenticity is the only absolute.

Caution Vile language, implied sexual situations

Bud, the protagonist of Christopher Paul Curtis's Bud, Not Buddy (Delacorte Press 1999), is a 10-year-old boy in a difficult situation. His mother died when he was six and he has been shuttled between foster homes and the orphanage ever since. After a particularly disastrous experience with a foster family, Bud decides to set out in search of the father whom he has never met. His only clues are a few fliers his mother left him, advertising an appearance by "Herman E. Calloway and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression." Although Bud is only a little black boy in the middle of a Great Depression, he makes his way across Michigan from Flint to Grand Rapids. Along the way, he stays in a Hooverville, meets a kindly labor organizer, and finally finds a place to call home. Although Bud, Not Buddy deals with touchy issues such as racism and labor unions, it never becomes too heavy-handed. Christopher Paul Curtis is blessed with the ability to capture a certain era in American history and create endearing characters such as Bud to inhabit that era.