From Flint, Michigan, to Grand Rapids to find the man he believes to be his father, a musician named Herman E. Calloway.

Bud has spent four years in an orphanage called the Home. His mother has died and he has never met his dad. But he has a stack of flyers advertising Calloway's band, flyers his mother kept for years.

Excerpts from the book: *** "I took the blue flyer out and looked at it again. The paper was starting to wear out from me looking at it so much but I liked checking to see if there was anything I hadn't notice before. It was like something was telling me there was a message for me on this flyer but I didn't have the decoder ring to read what it was.'' "In the middle of the flyer was a blurry picture of the man I have a really good suspicion about. I've never met him, but I have a pretty good feeling that this guy must be my father.'' *** "My heart starting jumping around in my stomach. The only kind of people who would carry human blood around in a car were vampires. They must drink it if they were taking a long trip and couldn't find any people to get blood from.'' "I put my hands on the steering wheel and looked at the gear shift to try to figure which way was `Go'. I stretched my legs out as far as they'd reach and could just get to the gas pedal. I pulled the gear lever down and the car took off with the vampire running as hard as he could to catch me.'' *** "If you got to tell a lie, make sure it's simple and easy to remember.'' -- Rule Three from Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself.

*** "Herman E. Calloway seemed like the kind of person that would rather get bit in the behind by a snaggletooth than have somebody give him a kiss.'' *** "All of a sudden I knew that of all the places in the world that I'd ever been in this was the one. That of all the people I'd ever met these were the ones. This was where I was supposed to be.''