Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Demon Copperhead is an updated version of David Copperfield set in Appalachia during the opioid crisis. Our young hero (and narrator) Damon is born to a teenage mom with a drug problem whose boyfriend has died before Damon is even born. Not a good start in life. And things get worse when Damon gets thrown into foster care. (And those chapters really make you wonder who is watching out for those kids in foster care.) Despite all his travails, Damon refuses to give up hope that his life will get better. And for a while it does, when he's placed with the family of a high school football coach. But the evils of opioids are soon destroying his community--and Damon's life. I could not put this book down.

My favorite line was when Damon, after reading a book by Charles Dickens, said: "He really gets it. It's like he lives around here or something." I have been a long-time fan of Barbara Kingsolver, all the way back to Animal Dreams and Pigs in Heaven. This is another excellent addition to her work.