<P> Bud Caldwell is a ten - year - old orphan, living in Flint, Michigan, in 1936 . Since the death of his mother four years earlier, Bud has been living in an orphanage and had short stints in several foster homes . The few items he has left of his mother include a blanket, a bag of rocks, a photograph of his mother as a child, and flyers that show Herman E. Calloway and his jazz band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression . </P> <P> The story opens with Bud being placed with a new foster family, the Amoses . Bud soon meets Todd Amos, their 12 - year - old son, who teases him mercilessly and calls him Buddy . After a fight with Todd, Bud is forced to spend the night in the garden shed . In the shed, he mistakes a hornet nest for a vampire bat and hits the nest with a rake . This upsets the hornets and Bud gets stung . During his adrenaline rush, he breaks through the window of the shed . </P> <P> After escaping the shed, Bud takes revenge on Todd by making him wet his bed by putting Todd's hand in warm water . He escapes and sleeps under a Christmas tree for the night . His friend Bugs wakes him up so they can go to the West . </P> <P> Bud runs away with Bugs . They try to hop on a train, but Bud fails to make it and is left behind . Bud starts walking to go to Grand Rapids, Michigan . On the way, he meets Lefty Lewis, who gives him a ride in his car to Grand Rapids to find his father, as he calls him, Herman E. Calloway . He stays with Lefty for a short while, then leaves to find his father . </P>

In bud not buddy who is bud father