Customer Reviews

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

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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."

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.

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"

Shortly after this book came out, I sat in the audience at The Eudora Welty Symposium on the campus of Mississippi University for Women and listened to Author Karon Luddy read excerpts from and discuss her debut novel SPELLDOWN, about a thirteen-year-old's sass, faith, family issues, wannabe-wanderlust toward the national spelling bee in Washington, DC and the triumphs and tribulations she enjoyed and endured along the way.

What an all-American and quintessentially American character Luddy has created.

Funky, entertaining, engaging. Just what Luddy needed to attraction attention for her quirky story-telling style. Now, I want the story on what Karlene does with her life post spelling-bee. Maybe part two could be Karlene's M-E-L-T-D-O-W-N.

This is a fantastic book! Made me laugh out loud. Has the greatest lines!
This book has fabulous characters, one of whom is a teacher that sees and inspires greatness in her students in a way that is so relatable to them!This is such a provocative book in the sense that it is so real! Karlene is dealing with classic issues that all teens no matter what geography or time they live in deal with. I am using this book with my reading group to inspire a love of words as well as a sense that anyone can make it with hard work no matter what situations one encounters. Karlene is a magnificent girl in an average environment that is progressing towards her wonderfulness as the book progresses! I recommend the book to teens and adults alike.