Synopses & Reviews
Leon and the Spitting Image is about a hotel full of animals. It's about an evil ice maker. It's about glass eyeballs and human catapults. It's about really old panty hose and Possibly Fake Hair.
But mostly it's about Leon Zeisel and his epic quest to survive fourth grade. What's stopping him? Two things. First, there's Miss Hagmeyer. She's a supernaturally strict teacher with ears that resemble giant rotting mushrooms. And then there is Leon's archenemy, Lumpkin the Pumpkin, a human tank with a deadly dodgeball throw known to all as the sidewinder.
Luckily, Leon has two friends, Lily-Matisse and P.W., who will stand by him no matter what -- even if his magical, mysterious plans for rescue and revenge involve . . . SPIT!
About the Author
Allen Kurzweil is the prize-winning author of two novels for adults—
A Case of Curiosities and
The Grand Complication—and two works of fiction for children—
Leon and the Spitting Image and
Leon and the Champion Chip. A recipient of numerous grants and awards, including fellowships from the Guggenheim and Fulbright Foundations and the New York Public Library Center for Scholars and Writers, Kurzweil is currently a fellow at the John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization at Brown University. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island, with his wife and son.
Mark Linn-Baker was most recently seen as "Toad" in the Broadway musical A Year with Frog and Toad. He is a producing director of New York Stage and Film, and his Broadway credits include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Face Value, and Doonesbury. For many, he is best known as Larry Appleton of television's Perfect Strangers.