Bud, Not Buddy draws in readers as Christopher Paul Curtis delivers a suspenseful yet casual historical fiction novel. This story is set in 1963 after the Great Depression and follows the journey of a ten year old orphan, Bud. When he is sent to the Amos’s home, he realizes that it is not safe for him, and runs away. He goes to Flint, Michigan in search of the man who he believes is his father, because of a picture in his suitcase of seemingly random items from his mother. While searching, he runs into many characters such as Lefty Lewis, and the members of a famous band, the “Dusky Devastators of the Depression.” Despite having limited resources and no mother, Bud perseveres to find out who his father is. Once readers open this book, it is hard to put down due to the constantly entertaining story.

Curtis depicts an accurate setting of the 1960s by basing characters off of people he knew who lived during the Great Depression. For example, Earl “Lefty” Lewis finds Bud as he was walking to the Grand Rapids. He ends up letting Bud stay and eat breakfast with him before driving him to the Grand Rapids. Lewis was a very well developed character, since he was based on the author's grandfather. In reality, Lewis worked as a redcap at the train station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, during the Depression.  This was one of the only jobs available for African American men at the time. Later during the depression, Lewis lost his job, and became a cabdriver in Grand Rapids until 1972 when he retired at 74 years old. Another example of a character who was based on someone Curtis knew was Herman E. Calloway, who was based on the author’s other grandfather, Herman E. Curtis. He was indeed part of the “Dusky Devastators of the Depression” and worked hard to make a living through music. These two characters stick out to readers, as they are extremely well developed, and Curtis put much thought into developing them. Thus, this novel is extremely intriguing to read, as many characters are based on people who lived through the Great Depression.

Curtis delivers a powerful story of an orphaned African American boy during a time period following the Depression. As he strives to find his long lost father, the plot becomes more intense as he comes closer to solving this mystery. The man who Bud believes to be his father, however, is quite unfriendly, making readers question his identity. It was very entertaining to witness the plot unfold and read Bud getting closer to finding his father. The identity of Bud’s father is shocking, but the happy resolution of the story was satisfying to read. The suitcase that Bud carries everywhere seems random and often questionable at first, but the items in it gain an extreme amount of significance towards the end of the story, especially when he comes close to finding his father. Hence, the novel was very fun to read.

The story of Bud as he searches for his father after the Great Depression is a heart-lifting, but sometimes heartbreaking story. Readers will not want to stop reading as Bud gets closer to finding his long lost father. Curtis introduces extremely well developed characters that he basically knew as if they were real. Bud sets a very good example of perseverance and persistence while looking for his father. This book is a fun easy-read for all ages, as Curtis’s word choice and writing style satisfy readers of all genres and depicts an accurate post-Great Depression time period.