The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Kingsolver, Barbara. Demon Copperhead. HarperCollins, 2022.

Barbara Kingsolver's novel Demon Copperhead is written from the first person point of view of her main character Demon Copperhead. Demon's narrative structure, form, and tone find their inspiration from Demon's personal writing project. After going into rehab, Demon's counselor suggests that he write a journal in order to process his past traumas. The sum total of Demon Copperhead is the manifestation of this writing endeavor. The novel follows a linear structure and form, enacting Demon's work to create order out of the chaos of his childhood and adolescence. Because Demon is recounting and reflecting upon his past experiences throughout the novel, it is written primarily in the past tense.

Demon's mother was just 18 years old when she got pregnant with Demon. Shortly thereafter, Demon's father jumped to his death at an infamous swimming hole called Devil's Bathtub. In the wake of Demon's birth, Mom struggled to raise and care for Demon in the way that he needed.

As Demon grew up, he came to rely upon Mom's friends, the Peggots. Mr. and Mrs. Peggot were an elderly couple raising their grandson Maggot. Because Maggot's dad was gone and his mother was in prison, he and Demon understood one another. Demon was often envious of Maggot, however, because his grandparents loved him the way Demon wanted to be love.

While Demon was visiting Mrs. Peggot's daughter and Maggot's aunt June in Knoxville, Mom got married to a man named Stoner. When Demon returned to Lee County, he found his home almost entirely unfamiliar. Stoner was not only presumptuous, but cruel and abusive to both Demon and Mom. Not long later, Mom relapsed and overdosed.

Following Demon's mother's death, Demon hoped that the Peggots would take him in full time. Mrs. Peggot explained that they could not care for him because they were elderly and were already acting as Maggot's parents. Demon was devastated. His social worker placed him with a man named Mr. Crickson, who ran a farm called Creaky Farm. While here, Demon met and became friends with Fast Forward and Tommy.

After leaving Creaky Farm, Demon moved to the McCobb family's home. He became acquainted with hunger while here, ultimately fleeing their home when the couple's marriage soured.

Demon hitchhiked to Murder Valley, Tennessee, where he heard his father's mother Betsy lived. Although glad Demon was alive, Betsy refused to take him in. She placed him in the home of Mr. Winfield, who coached the Jonesville football team.

For the next few years, Demon settled into his life with Coach Winfield and his daughter Angus. He became a star football player. He started dating. He got a job at the Farm Supply store. For the first time in his life he felt seen, known, and understood.

After tearing his meniscus during a football game, Demon developed an addiction to painkillers. Around the same time, he began dating the Farm Supply store owner's daughter Dori. Dori had an addiction of her own, and thus hindered Demon's ability to get clean. Ultimately, their relationship became centered around their addictions. Demon flunked out of school not long later, and moved in with Dori.

Although Demon loved Dori, over time, he realized that Dori would never change and never get clean on his behalf. Despite his frustrations with her, Demon devoted all of himself to keeping her alive. When he returned home one day to discover that she had killed herself by overdosing, Demon felt relieved. He no longer had to live with the anticipation of her death.

In the wake of Dori's death, Demon felt more alone and purposeless than ever. Therefore, when Fast, Maggot, and another boy named Hammer decided to go to Devil's Bathtub, Demon did not shy away from the trip. While there, Fast and Hammer got into a fight and jumped to their deaths, killing themselves the same way Demon's father had.

Following Dori's, Fast's, and Hammer's deaths, June urged Demon to get help. Although reluctant to do so, Demon left for Knoxville. He spent several years in rehab and lived in a halfway house. When he later returned to Jonesville to see his old friends, he reunited with Angus. The two discovered their romantic feelings for one another. They drove to the beach, finally fulfilling Demon's lifelong dream.