Bud, Not Buddy: (Newbery Medal Winner)

Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.

Riverbank Review - Martha Davis Beck

In Bud, Not Buddy, Curtis weaves elements of his family history into the tale, providing an after word about his two grandfathers...a big-band leader, and a baseball player in the Negro Leagues who are models for characters in the story. Curtis writes with humor and sensitivity and makes readers care about the characters he creates. In the process, he offers up a significant slice of American history.