Age Group: 9 - 12 Years

Description:

It's 1936 in Flint, Michigan, and times are hard during the Great Depression — but ten-year-old Bud Caldwell has a plan. A motherless boy who has been shuffled through a string of unhappy foster homes, Bud is fed up with cruel treatment, and after one terrible night he decides to set off on his own. Clutching a battered suitcase of treasured belongings and a handful of mysterious flyers left behind by his late mother, he becomes convinced they hold the clue to finding the father he has never known: a famous jazz bandleader named Herman E. Calloway. Armed with humour, courage, and his own list of "Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life," Bud sets out on the road toward Grand Rapids, meeting unforgettable characters and facing the realities of poverty and racism along the way. Warm, funny, and deeply moving, this Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning classic is an unforgettable story of hope, family, and belonging.