Spitting Image [Hardcover]

Shutta Crum (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up

Twelve-year-old Jessie K. Bovey has a lot to worry about. She doesn’t know who her father is; her old biddy of a grandmother keeps interfering in her life; her best friend, Robert, desperately needs new glasses that his family can’t afford; and mean Dickie Whitten teases Robert until Jessie has no choice but to punch him out.

When some New York City reporters show up in Beulah County to research a story about the War on Poverty, Jessie sees a way to solve one of her problems. She can charge money for showing the reporters around town so they can take pictures of the “local color” and use it to help pay for Robert’s glasses. But her plan backfires spectacularly, and Jessie learns some big lessons—and some big secrets as well.

A small Kentucky town and its quirky inhabitants are vividly evoked in Shutta Crum’s warm, atmospheric coming-of-age story, which handles multiple serious themes with a light touch.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-With a devotion to justice and a quick temper, Jessie Bovey, 12, has been known to indulge in fisticuffs with those who insult her or her friends. Born "out of wedlock," she feels secure in the love of her mother, yet wonders why she won't tell her anything about her father. While her grandmother, the "old biddy," seems to pick on her, Lester, the oldest member of their small community, holds her in warm regard just as she is. Excitement arrives when Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty brings a VISTA volunteer to her small Kentucky town and Baby Blue, Jessie's friend Robert's developmentally delayed younger brother, might get to go to something called Head Start. Innocently, Jessie assists reporters and photographers and is mortified when they grab national attention by focusing only on the worst aspects of her community and dearest friends. When a huge poisonous snake is set loose on her and Baby Blue, her grandmother coolly executes a superb rescue. As the story comes to a close, Jessie has learned who her father was and of violence in her mother's life, and she seems to be getting some control of her temper. Spitting Image contains as much cultural truth as Ruth White's Belle Prater's Boy (Farrar, 1996), but in contrast is narrated by a charmingly unpolished character looking from the point of view of the working poor. Truly memorable characters abound, and moonshining, snake handling, a rape 13 years earlier, and racial discord are knitted together in an absorbing plot with an uplifting ending. A remarkable first novel.
Cindy Darling Codell, Clark Middle School, Winchester, KY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. Twelve-year-old Jessie feels very much at home with her loving, single-parent mom in their small, close-knit Kentucky community in 1967, and she is proud to act as guide to Miss Woodruff, the kind VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) worker who comes to help as part of the president's War on Poverty. But when Miss Woodruff brings the national press to town, they get things wrong, and the local people are humiliated by the images of the "rural poor." Told from Jessie's viewpoint, this first novel starts off very slowly as Jessie interacts with all the people she knows. But author Crum is Kentucky born, and without sentimentality she does a great job of humanizing the backwoods stereotypes, even as she's honest about the hardscrabble poverty; the problems with unemployment, alcoholism, racism, and family abuse; and the value of the national social programs, such as Head Start. Best of all, though, is Jessie's family story. Woven in with all the local color details is the compelling drama of her search for her father, told with truth, tears, laughter, and real surprise. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books (April 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618234772
• ISBN-13: 978-0618234776
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,847,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Creative!, April 24, 2003

By 

Shailen Banker (Dearborn, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spitting Image (Hardcover)

I liked this book because Shutta Crum had a very unique writer's craft. It was a real page-turner! It had many of a 'big idea' and was funny at the same time. I liked the way she described the setting and the characters, it really gave you a feel that you were there with Jessica and Robert and had all the same feelings and thoughts. I think any person can enjoy this, even if they are into mystery, action, comedy...anything. This book included all of it, that's why it was so great to read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Book, April 5, 2003

By 

Natalie (Waukesha, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spitting Image (Hardcover)

This is my all-time favorite book. It's so hard to put into words how great it is! Throughout the novel I learned to care for the characters SO much, and I found myself crying, so nervous my stomach fluttered, or so happy I had the most amazing feeling inside me, like everything was perfect. It's amazing what talent Shutta has with her writing. I am encouraging *everyone* to read this book. The only warning I have...is that you'll be glued to it until the very last page. There were parts in the book where I wanted to skip ahead and find out what happened next! It is a perfect book about family, history, and loyalty. I have never read a book this inspiring and amazing in my entire lifetime. Shutta's charming words are sure to capture your heart with this heart-warming story about Jessica Kay Bovey.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, January 21, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Spitting Image (Hardcover)

wow, this book was really quite extraordinary, i loved it sooo much. i read it a few weeks ago, and now i decided to do my book report on it! so i am excited....but this book is so wonderful. it is historical fiction, and it brings together the fealings of happiness, sorrow, laughing-ness (if thats a word. lol.)and i really enjoyed it...Jessie Bovey is a bright young girl, and she is an amazing character.i loved her personality. and her grandma really is awesome there towards the end. lol. she kicks bootie. LOL. ha ha. but anyways. i would suggest to anyone who wants to read a brilliant book! well gtg. bye