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Curtis, Christopher Paul
7 Reviews
(1)
4-6
In 1858 South Carolina, twelve-year-old Charlie Bobo must go north with a plantation overseer to find "thieves." When white, ignorant Charlie (a product of his circumstances) is forced to be complicit in the slave trade, he finds his conscience and does the right thing. While shorter than its Buxton Chronicles predecessors (Elijah of Buxton; The Madman of Piney Woods), this tale is just as powerful, masterfully intertwining humor and tragedy.
Reviewer: Dean Schneider
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
March, 2018
(1)
4-6
In this companion to Elijah of Buxton, set in 1901, thirteen-year-old African Canadian boy Benji Alston befriends Irish Canadian boy Alvin "Red" Stockard. The two encounter the (supposedly mythical) Madman of Piney Woods, who brings the past into present for both boys. Woven throughout this profoundly moving yet also at times very funny novel are themes of family, friendship, community, compassion, and the power of words.
Reviewer: Monica Edinger
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2014
(2)
4-6
The Great Depression has hit the desperately poor Malone family hard, and twelve-year-old Deza Malone's father must leave Indiana to search for work in Flint, Michigan. When the family doesn't hear from him, they go searching. As full of good cheer as Deza (introduced in Bud, Not Buddy) is, this angry novel is unflinching in its portrayal of poverty.
Reviewer: Dean Schneider
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
March, 2012
(1)
4-6
Eleven-year-old Elijah is the first child to be born free in Buxton, a refuge for freed slaves established in 1849 in Canada. When a con man takes off with the funds Elijah's friend saved to buy his family out of slavery, the two pursue the thief across the border to Michigan. The book is an arresting, surprising novel of reluctant heroism.
Reviewer: Sarah Ellis
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2007
(3)
4-6
Fans of Mr. Chickee's Funny Money are reunited with the Flint Future Detectives, who find themselves pulled through a mural and into a strange world where Russell must contend with a giant teddy bear to reclaim his dog. A smart-alecky magical dictionary, references to George Clinton lyrics and "Hairy Plodder," and gross-out humor that's actually funny all feature in this literary joyride.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(2)
YA
Curtis's latest novel is set in Flint, Michigan; his protagonist, Luther T. Farrell, is fifteen going on thirty. Luther must deal with the moral bankruptcy of his mother, an unscrupulous loan shark, slumlord, and scam artist known as the Sarge. Luther is a vintage Curtis hero, with a keen eye for human inconsistencies, a self-deprecating sense of humor, and a genuine inner sweetness.
Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2004
(2)
4-6
It's the Depression, and Bud is ten and has been in and out of the Flint, Michigan, children's home and foster homes since his mother died. After a particularly terrible, though riotously recounted, evening with his latest foster family, Bud decides to take off and find the man he believes is his father, bandleader Herman E. Calloway. Bud's fresh voice keeps the sentimentality to a minimum, and the story zips along in step with Bud's own panache.
Reviewer: Roger Sutton
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 1999
7 reviews
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