Who is Bud?

Bud Caldwell is the ten-year-old African-American orphan, who is also the main character and protagonist of the novel. The entire novel is told from Bud's perspective, from his first years at home with his mother to his tenth year when he finds the family he had once lost. Bud becomes an orphan early in life, and he never knew his father, thus, finding his father becomes the drive for his life's journey.