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Bud, Not Buddy
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From: Melody Allen <melodyan>
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 08:15:13 -0500
I feel Bud, Not Buddy is distinguished because of the excellent characterization, not only of Bud but of the secondary characters as well. I was amazed at how the mother came to life. We saw all the strength she gave to Bud and then could appreciate her father's grief. By the way, having grown up in a family with a dog named Buddy, I could appreciate her insisting that he be called Bud with the image of flower bud full of potential - certainly we get to see Bud blooming as the story progresses. I also think it is distinguished in the descriptions.
I only need to think of the chapter that describes the music as he first listens to the band play. And the Depression comes to life without overpowering the story. Finally I think it is distinguished for its childlike humor and point of view as in the pencil up the nostril business and the whole scene in the shed. This book is funny, vivid, memorable and meaningful.
Melody Allen melodyan at lori.state.ri.us
------------------------------------------------------- From: Dean Schneider Subject: Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 08:59:00 00
I think Bud, Not Buddy was one of the truly fine books of the year, and it deserves the awards it received. I disagree with the opinion expressed earlier that it's the same authors getting the awards
"time after time." First, this is only Christopher Paul Curtis's second novel; he's too new on the scene to be one of the time?ter-timers. Second, though Holes won so much last year, if you compare the various awards lists this year - Newbery, Caldecott, Zolotow, National Book Award, King, Book Links magazine's "Lasting Connections," Booklist's
"Top of the List" and Editors'Choice, etc. - there's not much overlap and plenty of room for a rich variety. I don't even think the winners were all that predictable this year. I did correctly pick Bud, Not Buddy and Monster as winners, but as much as I read and as confident as I was that I had read everything that had a chance of winning the Newbery medal and honors, two books I had not read got honors: Getting Near to Baby and Our Only May Amelia. I have since read them and liked them both, especially Our Only May Amelia. So, the awards led me to other books. The whole awards scene is pretty broad, with a broad range of styles, themes, established and young writers. Two of my favorite books this year were by established writers who have won their share of awards, but they didn't get awards this time around - Katherine Paterson's Preacher's Boy and Susan Cooper's King of Shadows. Skellig was a nice surprise, partly because I hadn't realized it was eligible. David Almond is a superb writer, as readers of his new book, Kit's Wilderness, will see (though it too has received mixed reviews before it has even shown up in bookstores). The Printz Award is a great addition to the awards, expanding the range of books and authors eligible for awards. Walter Dean Myers has won his share of awards and could be someone who has won "time after time," but Monster was clearly a worthy, groundbreaking book, a fine model of a "Radical Change" book (as Eliza Dresang has named the
genre). Speak has been the most popular book of the year with my 7th and 8th graders, and I was quite taken by Hard Love (for older readers). After the fact, medal winners might seem "predictable," but other good books were predicted, too. What about Preacher's Boy? King of Shadows? The Birchbark House? Dave At Night? It's important for us to keep our own lists of great books that didn't happen to win awards; that list is bigger than any of the awards lists. So, if you're looking at the whole range of awards, medal and honor, it's a rich field, indeed. It is a real pleasure to, each year, try to keep up with it all, talk about books, make predictions, feel smug when you've picked the winner and embarrassed when you haven't even read one of the chosen books. Each year is a literary feast and odyssey, and you feel richer for it.
Dean Schneider Ensworth School 211 Ensworth Avenue Nashville, TN 37205 schneiderd at ensworth.com
Received on Thu 27 Jan 2000 07:15:13 AM CST
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 08:15:13 -0500
I feel Bud, Not Buddy is distinguished because of the excellent characterization, not only of Bud but of the secondary characters as well. I was amazed at how the mother came to life. We saw all the strength she gave to Bud and then could appreciate her father's grief. By the way, having grown up in a family with a dog named Buddy, I could appreciate her insisting that he be called Bud with the image of flower bud full of potential - certainly we get to see Bud blooming as the story progresses. I also think it is distinguished in the descriptions.
I only need to think of the chapter that describes the music as he first listens to the band play. And the Depression comes to life without overpowering the story. Finally I think it is distinguished for its childlike humor and point of view as in the pencil up the nostril business and the whole scene in the shed. This book is funny, vivid, memorable and meaningful.
Melody Allen melodyan at lori.state.ri.us
------------------------------------------------------- From: Dean Schneider Subject: Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 08:59:00 00
I think Bud, Not Buddy was one of the truly fine books of the year, and it deserves the awards it received. I disagree with the opinion expressed earlier that it's the same authors getting the awards
"time after time." First, this is only Christopher Paul Curtis's second novel; he's too new on the scene to be one of the time?ter-timers. Second, though Holes won so much last year, if you compare the various awards lists this year - Newbery, Caldecott, Zolotow, National Book Award, King, Book Links magazine's "Lasting Connections," Booklist's
"Top of the List" and Editors'Choice, etc. - there's not much overlap and plenty of room for a rich variety. I don't even think the winners were all that predictable this year. I did correctly pick Bud, Not Buddy and Monster as winners, but as much as I read and as confident as I was that I had read everything that had a chance of winning the Newbery medal and honors, two books I had not read got honors: Getting Near to Baby and Our Only May Amelia. I have since read them and liked them both, especially Our Only May Amelia. So, the awards led me to other books. The whole awards scene is pretty broad, with a broad range of styles, themes, established and young writers. Two of my favorite books this year were by established writers who have won their share of awards, but they didn't get awards this time around - Katherine Paterson's Preacher's Boy and Susan Cooper's King of Shadows. Skellig was a nice surprise, partly because I hadn't realized it was eligible. David Almond is a superb writer, as readers of his new book, Kit's Wilderness, will see (though it too has received mixed reviews before it has even shown up in bookstores). The Printz Award is a great addition to the awards, expanding the range of books and authors eligible for awards. Walter Dean Myers has won his share of awards and could be someone who has won "time after time," but Monster was clearly a worthy, groundbreaking book, a fine model of a "Radical Change" book (as Eliza Dresang has named the
genre). Speak has been the most popular book of the year with my 7th and 8th graders, and I was quite taken by Hard Love (for older readers). After the fact, medal winners might seem "predictable," but other good books were predicted, too. What about Preacher's Boy? King of Shadows? The Birchbark House? Dave At Night? It's important for us to keep our own lists of great books that didn't happen to win awards; that list is bigger than any of the awards lists. So, if you're looking at the whole range of awards, medal and honor, it's a rich field, indeed. It is a real pleasure to, each year, try to keep up with it all, talk about books, make predictions, feel smug when you've picked the winner and embarrassed when you haven't even read one of the chosen books. Each year is a literary feast and odyssey, and you feel richer for it.
Dean Schneider Ensworth School 211 Ensworth Avenue Nashville, TN 37205 schneiderd at ensworth.com
Received on Thu 27 Jan 2000 07:15:13 AM CST
