Book #101: Bud, Not Buddy

Book #101: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

July 29, 2014


The works that I've read by Christopher Paul Curtis (this one, and The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963) are examples of young adult literature done well. His works can be appreciated at so many ages, even though his characters are typically younger children (9 or 10). This is a book that I read with the intention of previewing it for my curriculum, and I know it will be a great text to use with one of my language arts sections. There are tie-ins to history here, as this novel is set during the Great Depression in Flint, Michigan (and later Grand Rapids). The characters are mainly African American, and there are examples of the racial issues in the text (like Lefty Lewis warning young Bud not to go into a certain small town alone at night). The story and characters are ones that I think my particular students could relate to as well.

I found myself comparing Bud (not  Buddy; he explains how his mother, who died of some kind of unrevealed "illness" when he was six, had told him to never allow people to call him "buddy," because that's a term people use when they're being "false-friendly"; I thought that was kind of profound) to another orphan, Oliver Twist. The story is kind of similar: Bud runs away after he's mistreated, and in his adventures he eventually finds his way to family. But unlike Oliver, whose only firm action was to walk to London in the first place, Bud tries to take a hand in his own fate. He actively tries to get to Herman Calloway, whom he later learns is his grandfather. He's looking for his actual father, but at the end of the text, his entire story isn't wrapped up neatly (unlike Oliver's). That was more realistic, and yet he still had a happy, hopeful ending (and it didn't make me want to puke!). Bud has personality, and a narrative voice that really moved the story along. As an older reader, his misunderstandings of turns of phrase were amusing, such as thinking that a pie he was served in a restaurant was called "On the House" (when it was meant that the dessert was free, of course). He's a very likable character.

Here's how I picture structuring a unit around this text:

-I would want to start with some pre-reading activities. There are many topics in this book to discuss: racism, the Great Depression, jazz music, labor unions. I'll want to come up with an interesting, engaging way of having the students delve in and read about these topics, so that they can make important connections with the text.
-I wouldn't want to assign too much reading to the students on any given night. One issue that we had last year was some of the struggling students having issues completing homework. One colleague of mine has a tendency to ply the students with worksheets, so some students' homework folders would be stuffed with assignments that were never completed. I'll take some responsibility in acknowledging that the students are there for treatment first, schooling second, and so I'll take it easy on the chapter assignments, especially since I plan on using this with more of the struggling readers. Perhaps a chapter a night, two on the weekends, with a bit of reading time in class on some of these days. If I started the book itself on a Monday, okay, it would take like three weeks to complete it. I think that's reasonable for the readers I have in mind.
-During the reading itself, I'll do less quizzing and question-asking, and do more to encourage discussion about the reading amongst the students. I'll return to some of my teaching texts and seek out something that they can do throughout the entire reading, some sort of reaction journal activity or something...
-I'll want to bring in some jazz music as well. It ought to be easy to find online resources for this.
-Something for post-reading...

Just a rough outline, but that's a pretty generic sketch of how I would usually approach the teaching of a book. I think it will go over well if I make it genuine and help the students be engaged; plying them with worksheets, again, would be a terrible approach.

There's a part of me that's looking forward to next school year, since I love teaching (especially literature and writing) and lesson planning, and a part of me that's dreading it. I feel like my enthusiasm and teaching style clash so much with some of my colleagues, and I don't often feel like I get much respect from some individuals that I work with, which is a shame. Still, there's kind of a good balance going amongst my coworkers; like, it's not just me up against the "other side," but other people working with me who understand and support how I try to teach. I just need to remind myself of all of the possibilities that I have for teaching these students. I'm starting to get excited, and if I can find more quality texts like this one, I know it's going to be a really exciting year...at least for me.