Curtis, Christopher Paul. 1999. Bud, not Buddy. New York: Delacorte Press. 

When ten-year old Bud is sent to a foster home where he is beaten up by the foster parent’s natural son, he decides to run away. When he meets his old friend Bugs, he decides that fate has taken a hand. With everything he owns, most of which belonged to his mother, Bud sets out on a quest to find his father and, along the way finds himself. This depression-era story finds Bud using a prayer and a hope to convince jazz musician Herman Calloway that he is his father. While Mr. Calloway is older and grouchier than Bud expected, the other members of the band, along with Miss Thomas finally convince Bud that he has come home. The descriptive language used by Curtis takes readers to Flint, Michigan and Grand Rapids, with a stop along the way in Hooverville, one of many cardboard villages that sprang up during the depression. With humor, hope, and memorable personalities, Curtis weaves a story that will catch readers in its web and make them cheer for a boy who learns to enjoy each day of his life for what it is rather than what it is not.