Spelldown: The Big-Time Dreams of a Small-Town Word Whiz [Hardcover]

Karon Luddy (Author)

Book Description

Thirteen-year-old Karlene Bridges is the best speller in her family, her hometown, and maybe even all of Shirley County, South Carolina. The trouble is, every time she makes it to the final round of a spelling bee, she chokes. But when Mrs. Harrison, the new Latin teacher, offers to coach her, Karlene's spelling jinx miraculously disappears. The year 1969 is turning out to be her best ever, especially since she develops a surprising crush on her best friend, Billy Ray.

But as soon as Karlene aims to compete in the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D. C., her father's drinking begins to spell trouble. How is a girl supposed to hold her family together, savor her first kiss, and become the best speller in America before the end of eighth grade?

Debut novelist Karon Luddy spells out adolescence with unwavering faith and sass in a novel about big dreams and the people who make them happen.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Set in a folksy South Carolina town in 1968, this heartrending and funny debut novel deftly evokes place, time and character. Karlene, a gutsy eighth-grader determined to win the Shirley County Spelldown, narrates in a charming voice that exudes her love of words. Mrs. Harrison, her new Latin teacher, brings the dead language alive, for Karlene and for readers. The woman volunteers to be her spelling coach and warmly welcomes Karlene into her heart and her home. As the teen spends time in their seemingly perfect household, babysitting for the two Harrison children, Karlene envisions her teacher and loving husband as her "pretend parents." Theirs is a different world from Karlene's: her father's soul has become "trapped in a liquor bottle" and her increasingly dispirited mother labors long days at the mill. In one especially moving scene, the girl hauls a Christmas tree through the woods to her younger twin brothers waiting at home, musing, "the way it looks around here, it's up to me to make the holiday happen." Readers will revel in the heroine's much heralded public victories, yet her private triumphs—among them a longed-for first kiss from a kind older boy and her reunion with her father at a treatment center—are even more moving and memorable. Peppering her narrative with copious references to '60s songs (Karlene observes that a sad teacher "probably keeps her face in a jar by the door like Eleanor Rigby"), Luddy has composed a resonant, applause-worthy work of fiction. Ages 10-up. (Jan.)
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From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—Karlene's parents work at the mill in Red Clover, SC, but spelling talent will afford their 13-year-old greater opportunity. Even with her sister's marriage to "El Creepo," the chaos brought on by twin younger brothers, and the stirrings of affection for a local boy, Karlene manages to become the Shirley County Spelldown champion. The eighth grader's natural acumen gets a real boost from an amazing Latin teacher whose love of language, zany approach to learning and life, and vast knowledge make her a mentor at school and beyond. When Karlene begins babysitting for her teacher, she soaks up the peace and intellect in the woman's home, which is so different from her own, where there's a hardworking mama and a daddy who can't seem to stay with the Twelve Step program. This novel takes readers to the state bee and the 1968 national competition in Washington, DC. Months of training and competing form the centerpiece of Karlene's pursuit of success, occasionally becoming the backdrop to painful family issues that demand her attention. Fans of Akeelah and the Bee will enjoy this literate and moving tale and its audacious and endearing protagonist. This book is a natural fit for those bright, verbal readers who frequent the library. With chapters introduced by story-related vocabulary words, it celebrates the music of the era, the flavor of the South, and the magic of words to empower young people.—Suzanne Gordon, Peachtree Ridge High School, Suwanee, GA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 211 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers (January 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416916105
• ISBN-13: 978-1416916109
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,527,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beneath the wordplay, February 22, 2007

By 

Rochester Fan (USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Spelldown: The Big-Time Dreams of a Small-Town Word Whiz (Hardcover)

I confess that I am a personal friend of the author, Karon Luddy. I have known her since 1976, and she was a student in several of my English classes. What follows is a paragraph I wrote to her after reading SPELLDOWN. The "crummy little novel" remark was just part of our competing-authors banter from previous emails. WARNING -- the end of the paragraph contains a "spoiler" of sorts. My recommendation: buy it and read it.

"I am so proud of you. Your crummy little novel is absolutely brilliant. I'm a thousand percent jealous! I loved every page, every paragraph, every sentence. The wordplay is mind-boggling! It is so intelligent, so beyond intelligent. But mostly I just loved Karlene. Right from the beginning, so intelligent and independent-minded, half-child, half-adult manque, an astute observer, and yet she does the dishes without complaint and chops down and hauls home and decorates a Christmas tree without feeling sorry for herself. The details you incorporated make it all seem so undeniably real, and Southern, and personal. And I love that at the heart of the novel is the girl's search to understand love, especially family love. She's surrounded by it, immersed in it, but can't comprehend it. At the end, she seems to let go of the need to get an intellectual grip on it and just accepts it, happy that it's real."

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Just for Young Adults, February 16, 2007

By 

M. Barton (South Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spelldown: The Big-Time Dreams of a Small-Town Word Whiz (Hardcover)

While Spelldown is listed as a YA book, I beg to disagree. Karlene, the 13 year old narrator, is a child of the late '60s, and readers who were young then are now adults. Readers will be reminded of those years as this charming young lady narrates her life as an articulate, mature, and vibrant adolescent, who is living in a poor, loving, but dysfunctional family. At times, Karlene is the "adult" trying to create a "normal" family life for her younger siblings and herself. Adults, as well as teens, will identify with Karlene and her world. I hope there will be a sequel; Karlene has captured my heart.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, April 25, 2007

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spelldown: The Big-Time Dreams of a Small-Town Word Whiz (Hardcover)

Remember spelldowns? This book is way bigger than a classroom spelldown. Karlene Bridges is a phenomenal speller. She studies what she calls "chapters" in the dictionary, like the "Tt chapter" and the "Kk chapter." She lives and breathes spelling.

Karlene's home life is held together by her mother and her burning desire to be the National Spelling Bee champion. Life with an unpredictable alcoholic father makes her world a bit of a roller coaster ride. There are times she recalls tender memories, but mostly there are erratic drunken moments filled with disappointment.

The arrival of Mrs. Harrison, a new Latin teacher, fills Karlene's life with hope. A lover of language, Mrs. Harrison becomes coach and mentor to the young speller. Karlene is welcomed into the Harrisons' home and encouraged in her efforts to excel. With Mrs. Harrison's guidance, contests are won, and Karlene inches closer to her dream.

In SPELLDOWN, Karon Luddy brings the spelling world to life for readers. Her story is filled with intriguing characters and terrific vocabulary words. Even the chapter titles will increase your knowledge of words. Luddy keeps readers on the edge of their seats as they observe each spelling contest and watch Karlene grow.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"