Demon Copperhead, a modern re-telling of Charles Dickens’ classic David Copperfield, follows Damon, a boy thrust into the foster system following the untimely death of his mother. Throughout the years, he experiences hardship and strife until landing in the unlikely care of an extremely successful high school football coach. Experiencing love and acceptance for the first time in his life, Damon battles hard within himself to break the internal narrative of his worthlessness and his cynical world view.

At the same time, the opioid epidemic is taking hold in America with dark days on the horizon for Damon and his community.

This book completely floored me. I would be shocked if I read something better in 2026, to be honest. The voice that Kingsolver found for Damon was both authentic and unique. She had to walk a thin line between cynicism, determination, and humor with her character, one that could have easily turned into Holden Caufield if she wasn’t careful; a character I cannot stand.

A resident of Appalachia herself, you can tell that she poured her heart and soul into this novel in letting her feelings known about how her community has been treated during the opioid crisis.

There are parts of my childhood that I look back on with regret in how things went the way they did, but when you read about the young men and women who were subject to the worst parts of the foster system, you gain an appreciation for what you didn’t have to experience. Sadly, many of the foster parents depicted in this story are in it for the additional income that comes with taking a lost child into their homes.

This is a deeply sad novel. I would challenge anyone to read this and come out the other end without a ton of empathy for the folks stuck in the endless hell of drug addiction. My heart breaks for Damon and the choices he had to make throughout his young life and the lives of those that were shattered around him.