Curtis, Christopher Paul 1954(?)–

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Curtis, Christopher Paul 1954(?)–

PERSONAL:

Born May 10, c. 1954, in Flint, MI; son of Herman E., Jr. (an auto worker and chiropodist) and Leslie (a lecturer and homemaker) Curtis; married Kaysandra Sookram (an registered nurse); children: Steven, Cydney. Education: University of Michigan—Flint, B.A. (political science), 1996. Hobbies and other interests: Playing basketball, collecting records.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

CAREER:

Writer. General Motors, Fisher Body Plant, Flint, MI, assembly-line worker, 1972-85; assistant to Senator Don Riegle, Lansing, MI; Automatic Data Processing, Allen Park, MI, former warehouse clerk; worked variously as a maintenance man, purchasing clerk, and customer-service representative. Founder, Nobody but Curtis Foundation, Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Avery Hopwood Prize, University of Michigan—Flint, 1993; Jules Hopwood Prize, University of Michigan—Flint, 1994; Golden Kite Award, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Bank Street Child Study Association Children's Book Award, Newbery Honor Book designation, American Library Association (ALA), Coretta Scott King Honor Book, ALA, Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies designation, National Council for the Social Studies/Children's Book Council, and Best 100 Books designation, New York Times, all 1996, all for The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963; Golden Kite Award Honor Book designation, 1999, Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Award, and Children's Book Award, International Reading Association, all 2000, and Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, 2001, all for Bud, Not Buddy; Mayor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, City of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, 2001; Christopher Paul Curtis International Children's Author Series established by Flint, MI, and Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Public Libraries, 2001; NAACP Image Award nomination, Michigan Notable Author Award, Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award, Coretta Scott King Award, and Newbery Honor Book designation, all 2008, all for Elijah of Buxton.

WRITINGS:

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 (historical fiction for children), Delacorte (New York, NY), 1995.

Bud, Not Buddy (historical fiction for children), Delacorte (New York, NY), 1999.

Bucking the Sarge, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Mr. Chickee's Funny Money, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Elijah of Buxton, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to newspapers and periodicals, including the Chicago Tribune, New York Times Book Review, and USA Weekend.

Curtis's works have been translated into ten languages.

ADAPTATIONS:

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 was adapted for audiobook by Listening Library (New York, NY), 1996, and by Bantam Books-Audio (New York, NY), 2000. Bud, Not Buddy was adapted for audiobook by Listening Library, 2001.

SIDELIGHTS:

In 2000 Christopher Paul Curtis became the first writer to concurrently win both the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award, two of the most prestigious prizes in the field of children's literature. Curtis received these accolades for his second novel, Bud, Not Buddy, a book set during the Great Depression that follows a ten-year-old black orphan from Flint, Michigan, as he searches for the man he thinks is his father. Like Curtis's other novels for middle-grade readers, Bud, Not Buddy is a work of historical fiction that uses historical events as springboards into fictional tales that blend fact with fantasy, seriousness with humor, and significant events in American history with family heritage. Curtis often sets his books in his hometown of Flint, and draws from his own life and that of his family in creating both stories and characters. Although he addresses challenging issues such as racism, poverty, homelessness, hunger, and child abuse, he balances these topics with an upbeat approach that emphases self-respect, the acceptance of life and its challenges, and the healing quality of family love. As an outgrowth of his work as a writer, Curtis founded the Nobody but Curtis Foundation to improve the level of literacy among children in Canada, the United States, and Africa by providing books, computers, and school supplies to young people around the world, and also through scholarship opportunities.

Curtis is praised for creating vivid, believable characters and settings; for portraying the fears of children authentically; for writing appealing stories that blend comedy and pathos; and for making his works both specific and universal through their grounding in the events of the past. Credited for demonstrating how history affects ordinary people, his fiction includes author notes that encourage readers to explore their own family history. Writing in Peacework, Lani Gerson commented of Curtis's body of work that, "told with humor and warmth," his novels "present stories of American history from a point of view long missing in children's literature." Instructor contributor Lillian Forman called Curtis "a great example of a writer who can help children grapple with painful experiences that are part of modern life." His books "deal responsibly and sensitively with such problems as homelessness, racism, sibling rivalry, and the inner turmoil of adolescence," the critic added. "And, without downplaying these problems, they celebrate the warmth and humor of life."

Born in Flint, Michigan, Curtis was one of five children born to Herman and Leslie Curtis. His father was trained as a chiropodist but eventually found a job in the automobile industry in order to support his family. Leslie Curtis remained at home until her children were grown, then became a lecturer in black history in the Flint public schools, and through her Curtis was inspired with a love of reading. Crediting his parents as his greatest influences, Curtis told Martha Davis Beck of the Riverbank Review that they "were very demanding and very concerned that we do well, that we know right from wrong, and that we take care of business."

In addition to being dedicated parents, Henry and Leslie Curtis were active in the civil rights movement and took their children to marches sponsored by the local chapter of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The family also attended reunions where Christopher heard stories about both his paternal and maternal grandfathers, both of whom were notable in their respective African American communities. His paternal grandfather, Herman E. Curtis, Sr., was a jazz musician and business owner as well as one of the first blacks in Illinois to earn a pilot's license. Maternal grandfather Earl "Lefty" Lewis was a left-handed pitcher in the Negro Baseball League who also worked as a porter in the Pullman railroad cars and became a union organizer. Curtis would characterize both these men in Bud, Not Buddy.

Curtis's favorite books in middle school were the adult novels To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Bridges of Toko-Ri by James A. Michener. However, like many children his age, he was less in love with books than he was with newspapers, comic books, and magazines such as Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, and Mad. In an interview for the New York Public Library Web site, Curtis recalled, "I read a lot, but books didn't really touch me, probably because there weren't a lot of books for or about young black children." Despite the lack of literature that spoke to him, however, Curtis knew he wanted to be a writer from an early age.

After graduating from high school, Curtis was accepted at the University of Michigan—Flint. To earn money for college, he got a summer job at Fisher Body, the plant where his father worked. Although the teen attended classes for a year, work won out and he left school to work full-time at the auto factory. While continuing his education with one or two night classes per term, he continued his assembly-line job for thirteen years. The work was repetitive and boring, but he liked his coworkers and enjoyed listening to the stories of those who had migrated to Flint from the South. Although they often spoke fondly of their homes and families, they also described their experiences with racism.

Although Curtis dabbled with fiction for several years, when he read Toni Morrison's adult novel Sula in the early 1970s, he decided to put more effort into his writing. Several years later, while on a visit to nearby Ontario, he met Kaysandra Sookram, a nursing student from Trinidad. The two exchanged letters—and Curtis impressed the young woman with his writing talent—while their romance grew. Eventually married, they had two children, Steven and Cydney.

Meanwhile, Curtis started using break time at work to write in a journal. Writing helped him to relieve the tedium of the factory, but also made him want to develop his talent. One day he realized what he was sacrificing by staying at the factory, and in 1985 he left work. In addition to completing his degree at the University of Michigan—Flint, Curtis worked as an assistant to Michigan Senator Don Riegle and took several other odd jobs to support his family.

Inspired by a family trip to Florida in the early 1990s, Curtis's story "The Watsons Go to Florida" won the Jules Hopwood Prize at the University of Michigan—Flint. At Kaysandra's urging, Curtis took a year's leave of absence to turn his story into a book. Curtis agreed, and entered the resulting manuscript in a writing contest sponsored by Delacorte, a book publisher in New York City that offered a prize for a first novel for young adults. Although Curtis's book did not win the prize, it was nonetheless accepted for publication, and the fledgling author was on his way.

In The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 readers meet Kenny Watson, a bright, sensitive boy who narrates the story of how his quirky but close-knit family travels from the blue-collar town of Flint, Michigan, to Birmingham, Alabama. In addition to Kenny, the family includes thirteen-year-old Byron, five-year-old Joetta, and their parents. The Watsons make the trip to visit Mrs. Watson's mother, Grandma Sands, a small but feisty woman who, the family hopes, can shake some sense into Byron, a budding juvenile delinquent. In the first half of his novel, Curtis focuses on Byron's escapades, which include straightening his hair and flushing flaming paper parachutes down the toilet. On their way to Birmingham, the children experience racial prejudice that they had not encountered in their segregated neighborhood in Flint. While Byron is awed by his grandmother and begins to act more appropriately once the family reaches Birmingham, even saving Kenny when the younger boy almost drowns in a dangerous swimming hole.

The family's vacation plays out against a volatile backdrop. In 1963 Birmingham was in a volatile state as many of its citizens reacted to the forced integration of black children into the city's white schools, and the mounting frustration resulted in the racially motivated bombing of the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church. The Watsons come face-to-face with this event because little Joetta is attending at Sunday School during the bombing. When Kenny goes to the site, he finds one of his sister's shoes in the rubble and assumes the worst. Although the boy returns home to find Joetta unharmed, the violence he has witnessed throws him into a deep depression even after he and his family return home to Flint. Kenny begins to hide behind the sofa which, according to Watson family tradition, has healing powers for family pets. Finally, Byron draws Kenny out and helps the younger boy deal with his feelings of fear and anger by reassuring him about the strength of family ties.

Writing in St. James Guide to Children's Writers, Gwen A. Tarbox stated that, in narrating his story through Kenny, "Curtis provides a detailed and poignant description of the inner life of an African-American family" and "uses a humorous style that is unique and geared to appeal to young adults as well as to children." The author's "control of his material is superb as he unconventionally shifts tone and mood," Martha V. Parravano observed in her Horn Book review, concluding that in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 "Curtis has created a wholly original novel." "We all have special books in our lives," Teri Lesnesne concluded in Teacher Librarian, "books which have moved us to laughter or tears,… books which leave a permanent mark on our lives as readers. That was certainly my experience when I read The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963."

As in Curtis's first novel, Bud, Not Buddy features a ten-year-old boy from Flint as its main character and narrator. However, in contrast to the stable family life enjoyed by Kenny Watson, Bud Caldwell—a self-proclaimed master liar whose bravado masks his need for affection—never knew his father and lost his mother when he was six years old. Before her death, Bud's mother left him clues to the identity of his father: flyers of Herman E. Calloway and his jazz band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression. Shunted between an orphanage and a series of foster homes, Bud decides to leave his latest foster parents, who have shut him up in a shed filled with hornets, and hit the road. Spending the night in a shanty town outside of Flint, Bud learns that prejudice and hardship happen to everyone, despite their color. When Bud runs into his friend Bugs, a fellow orphan who has left the Home, the two plan to hop a train to Chicago. However, a raid on the shanty town by Pinkerton guards causes Bud to miss the train, and instead he is given a ride by a kindly union man, Lefty Lewis, who drives Bud north to Grand Rapids. Although Bud finds Herman E. Calloway, the bandleader denies that he is Bud's father and shuns him. However, Calloway's band welcomes the boy, giving him a saxophone to learn to play. After Calloway is proven to be Bud's grandfather, the older man accepts his grandson, and Bud finds a new home with the band.

Reviewing Bud, Not Buddy in Booklist, Michael Cart noted that Curtis's second novel "will attract and delight countless readers with its genial good humor and generosity of spirit," and deemed the book "a celebration of the human capacity for simple goodness." Writing in Horn Book, Roger Sutton called Bud, Not Buddy a story "as classic as it is immediate," while Daria Donnelly concluded in Commonweal that the book's young narrator "seems an utterly authentic boy" thanks to the author's ability to "create … a perfectly rendered character rather than a sociological fact."

Bucking the Sarge again takes readers to Flint, but this time the setting is a contemporary rather than historical one. The viewpoint is that of a bright fifteen-year-old named Luther T. Farrell. Luther narrates his experiences growing up with a mother whose lack of morals allows her to benefit from the hardship she creates for others. While "the Sarge" creates a cash cow of running decrepit group homes and renting out rat-infested slum housing, Luther is forced to aid and abet her money-making scams. Cast in a more compassionate mold, the boy dreams that a win at the upcoming middle-school science fair might afford him a way out. Meanwhile, his job at one of his mother's enterprises, the Happy Neighbor Group Home for Men (which requires him to drive with an illegal driver's license) is balanced by other unsavory tasks. Ultimately, Luther's ability to find humor in his situation ultimately combines with a plan to bring the Sarge to justice in a story a Publishers Weekly contributor described as "a vibrant modern-day-battle between greed and morality." Praising Bucking the Sarge as a "hilarious, anguished novel," Hazel Rochman concluded in Booklist that Curtis's novel mixes "bits of philosophy" with "comedy and sorrow" in a "gripping story."

In the mid-1990s Curtis relocated his family from Michigan to Ontario to be closer to his wife's family. He makes that same geographical shift in Elijah of Buxton, which takes place in the mid-1800s in an Ontario community founded by runaway slaves. In the novel, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman has been born into freedom in Buxton. Through the boy's story, readers learn what it is like for those making the transition from slave to free after the arduous journey north. When a friend is robbed of the money he had saved to purchase the freedom of his southern relatives, the free-born Elijah knows that he is the only one who can safely make the trip across the border into the United States to track down the thief. During his journey, the boy learns firsthand what it means to be enslaved, and the story's "powerful ending is violent and unsettling, yet also … uplifting," according to a Publishers Weekly contributor. In Horn Book, Sarah Ellis described Elijah of Buxton as an "arresting, surprising novel of reluctant heroism," and a Kirkus Reviews critic dubbed it "Curtis's best novel yet."

Something of a change of pace for Curtis, Mr. Chickee's Funny Money and Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission are the first two installments in the author's "Flint Future Detectives" series of elementary-grade chapter books. In Mr. Chickee's Funny Money readers meet Steven Carter, an amateur sleuth who, as inventor of the amazing Snoopeeze 9000, is president of the Flint Future Detectives Club. When Steven helps out an elderly blind neighbor named Mr. Chickee, the nine-year-old is rewarded outlandishly: with a very rare quadrillion-dollar bill featuring a picture of popular soul singer James Brown. Together with best friend Russell and Russell's dog Zoopy, Steven must now evade a bumbling U.S. government official hoping to acquire the unusual American currency. Noting that Curtis's humorous, high-action plot will appeal to reluctant readers, School Library Journal critic B. Allison Gray added that Mr. Chickee's Funny Money serves up "a humorous and exciting tall tale" salted with "a sense of whimsy and magical realism."

Steven's adventures continue in Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission. Here he joins friends Richelle and Russell to follow Russell's rambunctious dog Rodney Rodent into a strange mural that is home to a menacing-looking gnome. In the mural world, called Ourside, the detective trio meets up with Mr. Chickee and the members learn of their mission: they must find Rodney Rodent and solve the prophecy that will save this strange alternative world. Praising Curtis's ability to create a "fast-paced, zany comedy," Connie Tyrrell Burns added in School Library Journal that Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission features "wacky characters" and "hilarious" plot twists that take humorous aim at such literary icons as J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" novels. Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission is "infused with the same high energy" and wordplay as its prequel, noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

In addition to his writing, Curtis is a regular speaker at schools and libraries, as well as through his foundation. On the Nobody but Curtis Web site, he revealed his inspiration for writing: "I believe that young people are often blessed with the best ears for protecting what rings true or what feels right in a particular piece of writing. To me, the highest accolade comes when a young reader tells me ‘I really liked your book.’ The young seem to be able to say ‘really’ with a clarity, a faith, and an honesty that we adults have long forgotten. That is why I write."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 26, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2000.

Gaines, Ann. G., Christopher Paul Curtis, Mitchell Lane Publishers (Bear, DE), 2001.

St. James Guide to Young-Adult Writers, 2nd edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1999.

PERIODICALS

ALAN Review, spring, 1996, Jeanne Marcum Gerlach, review of The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963.

Booklist, August, 1995, Hazel Rochman, review of The Watsons Go to Burimingham—1963, p. 1946; September 1, 1999, Hazel Rochman, review of Bud, Not Buddy, p. 131; February 15, 2000, Michael Cart, "On the Road with Bud (Not Buddy)," p. 1094; July, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of Bucking the Sarge, p. 1842; August, 2005, Ilene Cooper, review of Mr. Chickee's Funny Money, p. 2026; February 1, 2007, Michael Cart, review of Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission, p. 57.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January, 1996, review of The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1996, p. 157; November, 1999, review of Bud, Not Buddy, p. 89; December, 2005, review of Mr. Chickee's Funny Money, p. 174; April, 2007, Karen Coats, review of Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission, p. 326; October, 2007, Karen Coats, review of Elija of Buxton, p. 79.

Canadian Review of Materials, January 15, 1998, review of The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963; February 4, 2000, Mary Thomas, review of Bud, Not Buddy.

Commonweal, April 7, 2000, Daria Donnelly, "Hey! Harry Potter Has Cousins!," p. 23.

Detroit News, February 4, 2000, Michael H. Hodges, "Children's Author Is Still a Kid at Heart."

Essence, June, 2000, "First Person Singular."

Horn Book, March-April, 1996, Martha V. Parravano, review of The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, p. 195; November, 1999, Roger Sutton, review of Bud, Not Buddy, p. 737; November-December, 2007, Sarah Ellis, review of Elijah of Buxton, p. 677.

Instructor, September, 2000, Lillian Forman, "Christopher Paul Curtis," p. 59.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2005, review of Mr. Chickee's Funny Money, p. 1024; December 1, 2006, review of Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission, p. 1218; August 15, 2007, review of Elijah of Buxton.

Peacework, July-August, 2000, Lani Gerson, "Beyond Harry Potter: Children's Books Too Good to Miss."

Publishers Weekly, October 16, 1995, review of The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, p. 62; August 9, 1999, review of Bud, Not Buddy, p. 352; July 19, 2004, review of Bucking the Sarge, p. 162; September 5, 2005, review of Mr. Chickee's Funny Money, p. 62; December 18, 2006, review of Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission, p. 63; September 10, 2007, review of Elijah of Buxton, p. 61.

Riverbank Review, winter, 1999-2000, Martha Davis Beck, interview with Curtis.

School Library Journal, June, 1996, review of The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1993, p. 55; September, 1999, Kathleen Isaacs, review of Bud, Not Buddy, p. 221; October, 2005, B. Allison Gray, review of Mr. Chickee's Funny Money, p. 157; February, 2007, Connie Tyrrell Burns, review of Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission, p. 116.

Teacher Librarian, March, 1999, Teri Lesnesne, "Writing the Stories Brewing inside of Us," interview with author, p. 54.