Bud, Not Buddy is a tender story about an orphaned African American living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression.  The main character, Bud, decides to try and find his father.  The only clue his mother left him was several flyers about a band in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He gets a ride to Grand Rapids, and finds Herman E. Calloway, the man that he believes is his father.  He does  not get the reception he imagines, and Herman does not believe that Bud is his son.  As it turns out, though, Bud is his grandson.  Bud's mother had gotten into a fight with Herman, and had never spoken to him again.  Herman did not even know that she had died.  The book ends with everyone still in shock about the death of Herman's daughter, and Bud and Herman beginning a fragile relationship.