Christopher Paul Curtis (28 page)

Q. All three of your novels have been set in Flint—
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963
in the 1960s,
Bud, Not Buddy
in the 1930s, and
Bucking the Sarge
in the present. Why do you think Flint is such a rich source for you?

A. Why not Flint? Every city and town has a million untold, interesting stories. I think they just need a witness or novelist or storyteller to bring them out and tell them in the proper way. Many times students will tell me that nothing exciting ever happens in their lives and that there is nothing for them to write about. I tell them that's nonsense. Even the most mundane life is interesting and unique because there is no one else on Earth, Pluto, or Mars who has ever lived life the same way or reacts the same way. I can proudly say, “There is no one else in Flint who has lived the life I have.” But so can Trey of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, or Akbar of Galesburg, Illinois, or Chelsea of Windsor, Ontario, or Richie's daughter of Sebastopol, California. It's an accident of birth that I write about Flint, but it is no accident that I find so much about my hometown to be beautiful and worth writing about.

Q. What do your “Flintstone” friends and family think of the picture of their town in your novel?

A. I have gotten no feedback on my writing about Flint from fellow Flintstones. I think there are several reasons for this. First, I don't see many of my old friends and acquaintances anymore, so I'm not around to get any feedback if there is indeed any. Some people may agree with what I have to say about Flint today. If someone objected to my view, I would say that I don't believe my writing about Flint is negative; I try to portray my hometown in an honest way, scars and all.

But I think I'd be the last one to hear anything negative about my writing, which pertains not only to comments about Flint. People who strongly dislike my writing wouldn't come out to hear me speak, and most people consider it rude to say anything negative about another person, especially if that person is around to hear what they have to say! So I imagine if there is a negative comment about my writing on Flint, that one person, besides being a complete loser and idiot, will probably say it behind my back. Which is fine with me. I'd prefer believing my writing is universally adored. Sure, that's delusional, but what's a man got if you take away his dreams?

Q. Do you plan to write about Flint in your future books?

A. I'm sure I'll branch out, but there are still so many stories that can be told about Flint. And what is it that that great football coach, whose name escapes me at the moment, once said? “Go home from the dance with the girl who brung ya.” I think Flint has brung me a long way, so I'll continue to be loyal.

Bud, Not Buddy
CHRISTOPHER PAUL CURTIS
0-553-49410-4

Ten-year-old Bud's momma never told him who his father was, but she left a clue: flyers advertising Herman E. Calloway and his famous band. Bud's got an idea that those flyers will lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road and find this mystery man, nothing can stop him.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963
CHRISTOPHER PAUL CURTIS
0-440-41412-1

Nine-year-old Kenny lives with his middle-class black family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. When Kenny's thirteen-year-old brother, Byron, gets to be too much trouble, they head south to Birmingham to visit Grandma, the one person who can shape him up. And they happen to be in Birmingham when Grandma's church is blown up.

Counting Stars
DAVID ALMOND
0-440-41826-7

With stories that shimmer and vibrate in the bright heat of memory, David Almond creates a glowing mosaic of his life growing up in a large, loving Catholic family in northeastern England.

Heaven Eyes
DAVID ALMOND
0-440-22910-3

Erin Law and her friends in the orphanage are labeled Damaged Children. They run away one night, traveling downriver on a raft. What they find on their journey is stranger than you can imagine.

Before We Were Free
JULIA ALVAREZ
0-440-23784-X

Under a dictatorship in the Dominican Republic in 1960, young Anita lives through a fight for freedom that changes her world forever.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
ANN BRASHARES
0-385-73058-6

Over a few bags of cheese puffs, four girls decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The next morning, they say goodbye. And then the journey of the Pants, and the most memorable summer of their lives, begin.

A Great and Terrible Beauty
LIBBA BRAY
0-385-73231-7

Sixteen-year-old Gemma Doyle is sent to the Spence Academy in London after tragedy strikes her family in India. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma finds her reception a chilly one. But at Spence, Gemma's power to attract the supernatural unfolds; she becomes entangled with the school's most powerful girls and discovers her mother's connection to a shadowy group called the Order. A curl-up-under-the-covers Victorian gothic.

The Chocolate War
ROBERT CORMIER
0-375-82987-3

Jerry Renault dares to disturb the universe in this groundbreaking and now classic novel, an unflinching portrait of corruption and cruelty in a boys' prep school.

Dr. Franklin's Island
ANN HALAM
0-440-23781-5

A plane crash leaves Semi, Miranda, and Arnie stranded on a tropical island, totally alone. Or so they think. Dr. Franklin is a mad scientist who has set up his laboratory on the island, and the three teens are perfect subjects for his frightening experiments in genetic engineering.

Keeper of the Night
KIMBERLY WILLIS HOLT
0-553-49441-4

Living on the island of Guam, a place lush with memories and tradition, young Isabel struggles to protect her family and cope with growing up after her mother's suicide.

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town
KIMBERLY WILLIS HOLT
0-440-23841-2

Toby's small, sleepy Texas town is about to get a jolt with the arrival of Zachary Beaver, billed as the fattest boy in the world. Toby is in for a summer unlike any other—a summer sure to change his life.

The Parallel Universe of Liars
KATHLEEN JEFFRIE JOHNSON
0-440-23852-8

Surrounded by superficiality, infidelity, and lies, Robin, a self-described chunk, isn't sure what to make of her hunky neighbor's sexual advances, or of the attention paid her by a new boy in town who seems to notice more than her body.

Ghost Boy
IAIN LAWRENCE
0-440-41668-X

Fourteen-year-old Harold Kline is an albino—an outcast. When the circus comes to town, Harold runs off to join it in hopes of discovering who he is and what he wants in life. Is he a circus freak or just a normal guy?

The Lightkeeper's Daughter
IAIN LAWRENCE
0-385-73127-2

Imagine growing up on a tiny island with no one but your family. For Squid McCrae, returning to the island after three years away unleashes a storm of bittersweet memories, revelations, and accusations surrounding her brother's death.

Girl, 15, Charming but Insane
SUE LIMB
0-385-73215-5

With her hilariously active imagination, Jess Jordan has a tendency to complicate her life, but now, as she's finally getting closer to her crush, she's determined to keep things under control. Readers will fall in love with Sue Limb's insanely optimistic heroine.

Shades of Simon Gray
JOYCE MCDONALD
0-440-22804-2

Simon is the ideal teenager—smart, reliable, hardworking, trustworthy. Or is he? After Simon's car crashes into a tree and he slips into a coma, another portrait of him begins to emerge.

Zipped
LAURA AND TOM MCNEAL
0-375-83098-7

In a suspenseful novel of betrayal, forgiveness, and first love, fifteen-year-old Mick Nichols opens an e-mail he was never meant to see—and learns a terrible secret.

Harmony
RITA MURPHY
0-440-22923-5

Power is coursing through Harmony—the power to affect the universe with her energy. This is a frightening gift for a girl who has always hated being different, and Harmony must decide whether to hide her abilities or embrace the consequences—good and bad—of her full strength.

Cuba 15
NANCY OSA
0-385-73233-3

Violet Paz's upcoming
quinceañero
, a girl's traditional fifteenth-birthday coming-of-age ceremony, awakens her interest in her Cuban roots—and sparks a fire of conflicting feelings about Cuba within her family.

Pool Boy
MICHAEL SIMMONS
0-385-73196-5

Brett Gerson is the kind of guy you love to hate—until his father is thrown in prison and Brett has to give up the good life. That's when some swimming pools enter his world and change everything.

Milkweed
JERRY SPINELLI
0-440-42005-9

He's a boy called Jew. Gypsy. Stopthief. Runt. He's a boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw. He's a boy who wants to be a Nazi someday, with tall, shiny jackboots of his own. Until the day that suddenly makes him change his mind—the day he realizes it's safest of all to be nobody.

Stargirl
JERRY SPINELLI
0-440-41677-9

Stargirl. From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of “Stargirl, Stargirl.” The students are enchanted. Then they turn on her.

Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind
SUZANNE FISHER STAPLES
0-440-23856-0

Life is both sweet and cruel to strong-willed young Shabanu, whose home is the windswept Cholistan Desert of Pakistan. She must reconcile her duty to her family and the stirrings of her own heart in this Newbery Honor–winning modern-day classic.

The Gospel According to Larry
JANET TASHJIAN
0-440-23792-0

Josh Swensen's virtual alter ego, Larry, becomes a huge media sensation. While it seems as if the whole world is trying to figure out Larry's true identity, Josh feels trapped inside his own creation.

Memories of Summer
RUTH WHITE
0-440-22921-9

In 1955, thirteen-year-old Lyric describes her older sister Summer's descent into mental illness, telling Summer's story with humor, courage, and love.

Published by Laurel-Leaf
an imprint of Random House Children's Books
a division of Random House, Inc.
New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents
either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is
entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2004 by Christopher Paul Curtis

Laurel-Leaf and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

www.randomhouse.com/teens

Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at
www.randomhouse.com/teachers

RL: 5.3
eISBN: 978-0-307-56725-3
May 2006

v3.0