A review by bencaroline
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

adventurous emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This is a GORGEOUS book. It is a book that will "grow with you"; I read this several times as a child and have returned to it now in 2021 to find so much poignant depth that never sacrifices the groundedness in our child narrator Bud.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Medical content

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Body shaming, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit

The portion of this book that has more graphic domestic abuse/bullying is mainly in one chapter, early in the book. Bud (the main character) has a graphic imagination, like when he suspects another character is a vampire, and such things I considered "minor" but put them in the content warnings. But it is still a kids' book and nothing is too dark in my opinion; and several of these "minor" things will likely not be picked up on by the middle grade demographic.