Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

"Likewise, the Charles Dickens one, seriously old guy, dead and a foreigner, but Christ Jesus did he get the picture on kids and orphans getting screwed over and nobody giving a rat's ass. You'd think he was from around here."    

        -Demon, referring to Catcher in the Rye and David Copperfield 

Maybe you have figured out by now that I am a sucker for stories of kids trying to survive tough circumstances. I taught fifth grade and that is about the age at which Damon Fields, nicknamed Demon, begins his story. In contemporary southern Appalachia he survives an abusive stepfather, foster care, child labor, poor schooling, athletic success and addiction, among other obstacles. The novel is inspired by David Copperfield which I sort of wish I had read, or reread, beforehand. (I probably read it but ages ago!) 

This was the second 500+ page novel I have read recently, and it got a little tiresome partway through. I gave it a 4 rating because Kingsolver's writing is excellent, and I felt she portrayed Demon realistically. When the young man became addicted to opioids after they were prescribed due to an injury, I was reminded of The Empire of Pain The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe, which our Page Turners read last year. That nonfiction book opened our eyes to the deviousness and callousness of the pharmaceutical companies that pushed those addictive drugs which ruined many people's lives and may still be doing so.