Showing Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

"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 Jack Robinson, they've gone and grown a lot bigger than you everthought they could." So figures scrappy 10-year-old philosopher Bud--"not Buddy"--Caldwell, an orphan on the run from abusive foster homes and Hoovervilles in 1930s Michigan. And the idea that's planted itself in his head is that Herman E. Calloway, stand-up bass player for the Dusky Devastators of the Depression, is his father.

Guided only by a flyer for one of Calloway's shows--a small, blue posterthat had mysteriously upset his mother shortly before she died--Bud setsoff to track down his supposed dad, a man he's never laid eyes on. And,being 10, Bud--not--Buddy gets into all sorts of trouble along the way,barely escaping a monster-infested woodshed, stealing a vampire's car andeven getting tricked into "busting slob with a real live girl." ChristopherPaul Curtis exhibits his skill for capturing the language and feel of anera and creates an authentic, touching, often hilarious voice in littleBud. (Ages 8 to 12) --Paul Hughes