Bud, Not Buddy

Bud creates a list of rules that he lives by, which helps him survive and thrive in life. The following five rules help Bud survive in the world on his own: Rule #3 helps Bud avoid getting into...

Bud never meets his biological father nor does he discover his name. For the majority of the story, Bud believes that his father's name is Herman Calloway, who happens to be a famous musician...

As an orphan, Bud naturally leads a pretty unstable life. Constantly moving around from place to place, he lacks the security that a child with a loving family would take for granted. So, in order...

In Chapter 2, Todd Amos is beating up Bud when Mrs. Amos walks into the bedroom. Todd lies to his mother and fakes an asthma attack. Todd points to Bud's hand mark on his face, and Todd's parents...

While Bud searches for his father, he comes across a Hooverville, which is a shanty town. Many of them were constructed during the Great Depression, and homes were often made of cardboard. Bud and...

I would argue that the first significant event in this story takes place when Bud makes his escape from the Amos household. Bud, who has been beaten up by an older boy at his foster home, makes his...

During their ride back to Flint, a policeman pulls over Lefty Lewis with Bud in the passenger seat. When Lefty Lewis pulls over, he cautions Bud to stay silent and remain in his seat. He then tells...

After Bud runs away from the Amos household, he isn’t sure what to do or where to go. He eventually decides to try and get to Grand Rapids, Michigan in order to search for Herman E. Calloway. "So...

I would argue that there are few ways in which Bud does not change during the course of his story. His circumstances change, he starts to grow up, and he becomes part of a group that he can call...

Bud's rule number three is as follows. "If you got to tell a lie, make sure it’s simple and easy to remember.” Bud tells the readers this rule in chapter two. Bud is good liar. He admits it...

Chapter six is the part of this novel you want to re-read to find the answer to this question. It starts with Bud waking up and realising that he has been asleep too long and might miss out on...

In Chapter 5, Bud's mother tells him to remember that no matter how bad things look, "when one door closes, don't worry, because another door opens" (Curtis 43). Angela Caldwell's metaphor...

When Bud is six years old, his mother passes away at the age of twenty-six, and he is taken to an orphanage. He eventually leaves in hopes of finding his father. Although Christopher Paul Curtis...

It takes readers most of the book to figure out what these rocks are that Bud hauls around with him and why they are important. We first read about them in chapter 5, but readers get very little...

Bud starts crying at the restaurant out of a sense of relief and release. After all the years of hardship and sorrow since his mother died four years earlier, he has finally reached his...

In the book, rule number 118 helps Bud avoid losing his cherished suitcase. To paraphrase, the rule states that a kid should give adults something to confiscate so that their attention is diverted...

Chapter 1 doesn't have any rules that Bud uses. Chapter 2 contains two of his rules. Rule number 3 is the following rule: If you got to tell a lie, make sure it's simple and easy to remember. At...

Bud’s suitcase contains a pack of flyers. These sit at the very bottom of the suitcase. The flyers are advertisements for various performances of the jazz musician Herman E. Calloway. They are...

In Chapter 15 of Christopher Paul Curtis's young reader's novel Bud, Not Buddy, Miss Thomas, a singer for Herman E. Calloway's band, takes Bud to Calloway's house called "Grand Calloway Station."...

Bud says that quote in chapter 9: 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...

Aside from the fact that Dirty Deed is an excellent musician, Herman E. Calloway makes sure to keep at least one white band member because of the prejudices and blatantly unfair laws that exist in...

Bud always introduces himself as "Bud" because that is his name. Bud's mother named him Bud, not Buddy; therefore, Bud wants to be called what his mother named him. Most of chapter five is a...

Early on, Bud introduces the reader to a series of rules and wisdom entitled “Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself.” Although Bud has...

This event happens in Chapter Ten of this novel, and occurs when Lefty Lewis and Bud meet for the first time. As it is so late at night and they are in such a deserted location, it is clear that...

In Chapter Nine of Bud, Not Buddy, Bud goes to the mission for breakfast, but his "family" (the people who helped him in the food line and provided him with brown sugar for his oatmeal) are not...

The answer to this question can be found in chapter 8. Chapter 8 begins with Bud and Bugs being reunited with each other. The two boys are excited to be together again, and they head off toward one...

Bud incorrectly assumes the man in the flyer is his father because of a distant memory. Before Bud’s mother dies, she sees this particular blue flyer and becomes very distraught at seeing it....

Bud learns more than one life lesson over the course of this relatively short novel. A common answer is that Bud learns the value of family, and that is definitely true; however, I don't believe...

In Chapter 19, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression walk into Grand Calloway Station and tell Bud that they have something for him. Steady Eddie slides a busted up cardboard suitcase in front of...

While Bud may mention his mother in each of those chapters, I would focus the motherly advice search to chapter 5. Chapter 4 is still primarily focused on Bud's experience with the Amos family,...

The rule in chapter 11 says: RULES AND THINGS NUMBER 29 When You Wake Up and Don’t Know for Sure Where You’re At and There’s a Bunch of People Standing Around You, It’s Best to Pretend You’re...

In Curtis' novel, Bud, Not Buddy, the problem is that Bud has lost his mother—she died when he was six. He has been in the Home for several years, in and out of foster homes, has been beaten up,...

Bud, Not Buddy has several conflicts. Bud struggles internally with the loss of his mother and his resulting life in and out of foster homes and orphanages. One early conflict that we see Bud have...

There are two rules mentioned in chapter 15 of Bud, Not Buddy. The first is as follows: Rules and Things number 547, or something, that was the one about when a adult tells you, “Don’t Worry.”...

In Chapter Six of Bud, Not Buddy, Bud accidentally oversleeps and is late to line up at the mission for his breakfast. By the time that he arrives, the line is already two blocks long. As Bud waits...

In Chapter 14, Bud dines with Herman Calloway and his band at the Sweet Pea. As soon as Bud enters the restaurant, he takes a big "snort of air" and says "This must be exactly how heaven smells!"...

Throughout Bud's journey to Grand Rapids to find Herman Calloway, who ends up being his grandfather, Bud lives by a set of rules he created to help him survive as a homeless orphan during the...

Conflicts are abundant in this book. For example, Bud has a very intense conflict with the Amos family. Specifically, his conflict is with Todd Amos, who thinks that he can beat up Bud with no...

After Bud is wrongly accused of bullying Todd Amos, Mr. and Mrs. Amos force him to spend the night in their dark shed. While Bud is locked in the shed, he notices that something strange is hanging...

At this point in the story, Bud is "on the lam" after escaping the dreaded Amos household and managing to get breakfast at the packed city mission, where hundreds of homeless citizens are fed on a...

On the surface, Bud appears to be completely different from his grandfather, Herman E. Calloway. While Bud is young, enthusiastic, and friendly, Herman is a grumpy, callous old man, who is reserved...

In Chapter 7, Bud is in the library and asks the librarian for Miss Hill. The librarian responds by saying, "Miss Hill? My goodness, hadn't you heard?" (Curtis 55). Bud instantly remembers one of...

This section of the novel comes in Chapter 2 after Bud has been moved into the foster home of the Amos family. The narration of this chapter is interesting as it starts with the fight and Bud...

Bud's mother, Angela Janet Caldwell, was a loving, caring individual who taught Bud important values that he carries throughout his life. Bud mentions on numerous occasions that his mother read to...

Much of Bud, Not Buddy includes the resilience of ten-year-old Bud. Near the beginning of the book, when Bud goes to live with the Amoses, they treat him badly; Todd, the Amos son, beats him, and...

Letters are written documents that can be sent by literally anyone; all they necessitate is writing something down on paper, putting it in an envelope, addressing it to the desired recipient's...

In the children's novel by Christopher Curtis, "Bud, Not Buddy" Herman E. Calloway and Bud are coming home from a gig and Bud shows Calloway his rocks with dates marked on them. Calloway gets very...

In chapter 19, Bud learns that his mother ran away from home at a young age, because her father insisted that she was going to be the first Calloway to graduate college, and she did not share his...

After Bud survives a vicious hornet attack and gets revenge on Todd, he flees the Amos household with his suitcase and begins walking to the north side library. Bud hopes that he will be able to...

I wish that I could give you a definitive answer, but that is just not possible. Bud Caldwell doesn't rank his "Rules and Things to Have a Funner Life and Make a Better Liar Out of Yourself." He...