Bud not Buddy Notes Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Bud not Buddy Warm up : How would you picture life in an orphanage ? How do you think an orphan would feel? What possible difficulties would an orphan feel? (5 lines)

Discussion Recap Characters Setting Open Discussion Ask What the suitcase represents? What good news did Bud and Jerry get?  According to Bud, did he have a better foster assignment than Jerry did? Explain. Why is six a tough age? What was printed on the blue flyer? Why was it special?  CW: Mind mapping Sequence Exercise

The narrator, Bud, thinks here we go again as a caseworker walks beside the boys in a line waiting for breakfast. Bud is nervous because the woman stops in front of him. The caseworker asks him if his name is Buddy Caldwell, and he replies that his name is Bud, not Buddy. Hey, that's the title of the book! The caseworker also pulls out Jerry Clark and tells both boys that they will be placed with foster families that day. Although the boys are not thrilled, the caseworker assures them they will be happy. The caseworker tells Bud and Jerry that the nation is in a depression and that it is lucky that they will be with families. We find out that Bud has been in two foster homes already. We also find out that even though Bud is really upset, he can't cry tears any more. Sounds like he's tired of all the hardships that come with being an orphan and getting sent to one foster family after another. Jerry cries, and Bud comforts him, telling him that his foster family sounds way better than where Bud is going, where there will be a 12-year-old boy (Bud is ten). Because Jerry is six, Bud realizes that he is in for a rough time. Bud says that a person really becomes like an adult around age six. Bud remembers that when he went to his first foster home, Bud learned that adults treat a six-year-old as if he should understand everything that is said and that they'll beat the kid up if he doesn't. Bud also thinks that being six is also scary because you start to lose teeth, and adults don't understand that. Bud was also six when his mother died. Bud looks inside of his suitcase to make sure everything is still there. He pulls out a flyer advertising a jazz band and there is a photo of a man Bud think must be his father. The man in the picture is standing next to a bass, which Bud calls a giant fiddle. Bud thinks this man must be his father because when his mother brought the flyer home, she was very upset and kept moving it around the house. Soon after, Bud found her dead. Bud packs his things and sits next to Jerry, waiting to leave.

Mind Map Characters we meet Most Important Events of the Chapter Description and useful Information about the Characters Prediction of Coming Events Summary of the Chapter