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Book Summary and Reviews of Dovey Coe by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Dovey Coe by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Dovey Coe

by Frances O'Roark Dowell

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  • Published:
  • May 2000, 192 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

My name is Dovey Coe and I reckon it don't matter if you like me or not. I'm here to lay the record straight, to let you know them folks saying I done a terrible thing are liars. I aim to prove it, too. I hated Parnell Caraway as much as the next person, but I didn't kill him.

There have been Coes living in the mountains of Indian Creek, North Carolina, going on forever, and everyone in town is amazed that twelve-year-old Dovey might up and do such a terrible thing. Even if the girl does have a tendency to shoot her mouth off, she's had good reason since she's always had to stick up for her brother, Amos, who may be older and bigger, but folks treat like he's slow on account of his being deaf.

Her sister, Caroline, might shake her head over Dovey's high spirits, but if Caroline hadn't been letting the likes of Parnell Caraway hang around her all summer, Dovey wouldn't be in this mess. Dovey's not one to sit back when troubles are brewing, but now with this murder charge, for once she might just have to keep quiet and let the slick city lawyer take care of things...or will she?

Frances O'Roark Dowell has created an irresistible heroine the likes of whom have not been seen since the legendary Scout first appeared in Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Dovey is an original character who speaks with a mountain twang that brings the vivid setting to life." ―School Library Journal (starred review)

"This fabulously feisty heroine will win your heart." ―Kirkus Reviews

"A delightful book, thoughtful and full of substance." ―Booklist

This information about Dovey Coe was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Frances O'Roark Dowell

Frances O'Roark Dowell is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of Dovey Coe, which won the Edgar Award and the William Allen White Award; Where I'd Like to Be; The Secret Language of Girls and its sequels The Kind of Friends We Used to Be and The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far Away; Chicken Boy; Shooting the Moon, which was awarded the Christopher Award; the Phineas L. MacGuire series; Falling In; The Second Life of Abigail Walker, which received three starred reviews; Anybody Shining; Ten Miles Past Normal; Trouble the Water; the Sam the Man series; The Class; How to Build a Story; Hazard; and, most recently, Then a House Fell on Her Head. She lives with her family in Durham, North Carolina. Connect with Frances online at FrancesDowell.com.

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