The Legend of Buddy Bush
By: Shelia P. Moses / Narrated By: Cherise Booth
Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
Captivating without being heartbreaking… Oh thank goodness!
It’ll still make you mad, though. The Legend of Buddy Bush reminded me of the story of Emmett Till. Buddy Bush, a young black man, is from Harlem, up North. He’s used to being treated in a manner distinctly different from the way blacks are treated in the South, especially in the 1940s.
Pattie Mae is a twelve-year old from North Carolina who idolizes her uncle Buddy. She is with Buddy during a trip to town where he refuses to move from the sidewalk for a white woman. This scares Pattie Mae to death, and she wishes that he might remember that he’s not in the north right now. Of course the woman is horribly offended, screams that she’s been assaulted, and the law turns it all into Attempted Rape (of a white woman). Justice is denied at every turn, even when Pattie Mae’s hardworking family comes up with the 10% for bail money. His hearing is postponed, he’s put on a chain gang; it’s all so much for the family to bear.
What I liked was how the injustices were written, both great and small. Because the fact is, though the family is not in jail or enslaved, they’re still working through blistering heat on a white man’s farm. Pattie Mae spends her days chop, chop, chopping weeds in the cotton fields. She and her mother (and Buddy) live in The Slave House. They have to pay a white man twenty-five cents if they want to make or receive a phone call (but eventually her grandma and grandpa get their own phone line, vowing to charge but a nickel should anyone need it). It’s all about slavery being just behind them but still very much around them.
And it’s written so well that yes, children can handle it: It shows how wrong everything was without being in-your-face brutal. Plus, the family has the faith of God on their side, and the story winds up with a lot of hope (even with the appearance of the KKK). There’s also a whole lot of how strong a family can be when they’re unified and loving and respectful to each other. Each character is well-fleshed out; heck, even Pattie Mae’s dog, Hobo, and their cat, Hudson, have a lot of personality (though naturally, I did worry about the animals at the end, but that’s just cuz that’s what I do…).
Cherise Booth, who narrated one of my favorites, Salvage the Bones, does a stellar job with the narration. I dunno how old the woman is, but she sure can do young girls on the verge of womanhood super well. And it doesn’t hurt that she can do the voices of the many characters well also. You get Buddy’s fear, you get Pattie Mae’s worries, you get grandma’s cries of faith—basically, you get it all with Ms. Booth.
This is by no means a long listen at under 4 hours, but it’s a good one. Highly recommended for younger listeners. Those of us who are aware of the true brutality that was the south, however, might find it to be a tad unbelievable. Still, a warm listen.
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