He also had some explaining to do to moms who read Bud and wanted to know why in the world a proper girl like Deza had kissed Bud when she barely knew him! Curtis shaped a story around Deza, who washes dishes with Bud at a hobo camp, in response to pleas from female readers that he write a novel about a girl for once. Except for their setting – the American Midwest during the Great Depression – the two stories are not linked. The title character, Deza Malone, made a brief appearance in Bud Not Buddy, for which Curtis won the Newbery Medal in 2000. Even when the history he’s revisiting is particular ugly – slavery, discrimination, poverty – Curtis understands that the only way to make sure his readers hear the important details is to deliver it in a package that also entertains. His kids are flawed, funny, and real he does not look away from the hardships of life “back then,” but the voice he uses to tell his tales is always a storyteller’s. “Historical fiction” is not a phrase one can use to tempt every kid to a particular book, but Curtis has honed a method of making the events of yesteryear read like contemporary stories.
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