A boy born to a single, teenage mother grows up tough in Appalachia, demonstrating a remarkable capacity for surviving foster care, child labor, and terrible schools while balancing athletic triumph with heartbreak and addiction. What matters most: his rural roots ultimately render him invisible to society. A contemporaneous David Copperfield; with a 250,000-copy first printing.

Paying homage to David Copperfield and a host of other coming-of-age novels, Kingsolver follows the eponymous narrator, Damon "Demon" Copperhead, from childhood to young adulthood as she chronicles his struggle—and that of his Southern Appalachian community—against generational poverty, the opioid epidemic, and decades of prejudice and exploitation of the region's natural resources. Born to a single mother who is addicted to drugs, Demon is put through a host of cruel and abject paces—homelessness, an overextended and thus neglectful child welfare system, abusive foster care situations, and a heart-rending love affair. There are moments of grace when Demon's community and family step up or step in to support him, especially his next-door neighbors, the Peggots. However, even these Samaritans have their shortcomings, like the local football coach who leads him to stardom but also addiction. VERDICT Kingsolver has successfully created an authentic voice for her teenage protagonist, a voice at once heartbreaking, humorous (often at his own expense), and ultimately resilient. This highly recommended work is an excellent read in conjunction with Beth Macy's Dopesick and J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy (both nonfiction) and novels like Tess Gunty's The Rabbit Hutch and Daniel Woodrell's Winter's Bone.—Faye A. Chadwell

Kingsolver (Unsheltered) offers a deeply evocative story of a boy born to an impoverished single mother. In this self-styled, modern adaptation of Dickens's David Copperfield, Demon Copperhead, 11, is the quick-witted son and budding cartoonist of a troubled young mother and a stepfather in southern Appalachia's Lee County, Va.; eventually, his mother's opioid addiction places Demon in various foster homes, where he is forced to earn his keep through work (even though his guardians are paid) and is always hungry from lack of food. After a guardian steals his money, Demon hitchhikes to Tennessee in search of his paternal grandmother. She is welcoming, but will not raise him, and sends him back to live with the town's celebrated high school football coach as his new guardian, a widower who lives in a castle-like home with his boyish daughter, Angus. Demon's teen years settle briefly with fame on the football field and a girlfriend, Dori. But stability is short-lived after a football injury and as he and Dori become addicted to opioids ("We were storybook orphans on drugs"). Kingsolver's account of the opioid epidemic and its impact on the social fabric of Appalachia is drawn to heartbreaking effect. This is a powerful story, both brilliant in its many social messages regarding foster care, child hunger, and rural struggles, and breathless in its delivery. (Oct.)