Leon and the Spitting Image

BOOK REPORT

Title: Leon and the Spitting Image

Author: Allen Kurzwell

This is a book report about Leon and the Spitting Image, created by Allen Kurzwell. As you look down, the dedication towards this book will be seen. It is a privilege to read this special book. Why do you think I chose this book? I chose it because of its name and because of the illustrations. I chose it because for some reason, it has been in the Scholastics for around three, four, or maybe five years. What keeps teachers and students so nailed down to this book? What makes it so special that makes anyone feel like reading it? One thing is that I've always loved this book because of its title. What did these simple words mean? I thought to myself that Leon and the Spitting Image had something to do with a boy named Leon who found a portrait in the museum that spits. Back then, I was a helpless little kid who didn't know much vocabulary. That's when I learned about metaphors or other references from the dictionary. You can call it a nickname if you want. But for now, it's your turn to read this story. And when you do, I'm sure you'll finally know the answer to all these questions... so, what are you waiting for?

What do you think this book is about? Is it about spitting at people for revenge? Is it about learning how to spit a certain way? I understand if you have already read this book. However, don't spoil it for others! If you're not that interested into these kinds of things, I suggest you stop reading this instant. As a clue, you shall know that this book is about cherishing the rough moments in your life. It is about taking things for granted and regretting for doing them, to feel like you need to start all over again. Have you ever had a time where you did something horrible, and sooner or later you wished that you could go back in time and change it again so terrible stuff would've never happened? I did. And this is what this book is all about. The thing is- are they regretting it or are they loving it?

Leon was an original boy who went to school. At least, he felt this way until the extraordinary thing happened. Leon's mother worked in a hotel, but she demanded for him to sleep in there- basically, staying at the hotel as if it were a home. Leon always complained about the ice machine that he considered a queen that was evil and made sure you didn't go to sleep. What I mean is, there was an ice machine near his room that didn't work properly and would chug ice and groan and scuttle all night which kept him awake. Everyday a taxi driver drove him to his school. Because he went to school everyday, he began a collection of his own kind. This collection was a taxi driver collection. Leon would always ask taxi drivers for their license plate. He would jot down where they came from. He wanted taxi drivers from the whole world. Nothing changed, though. Once he had arrived at school, Henry Lumpkin who was a big bully would push and kick him around all day. Sometimes he would pin Leon to the ground during a big rainstorm and make him late for class!

This year, Leon had a teacher who made him feel like she was the strictest teacher in the whole school. Well, I didn't actually have to mention that because obviously, she was. She would torture her students all day, demanding homework assignments and tapping on the desks with a heavy sharp stick to keep the students awake and working. His teacher was henceforth, Ms. Hagmeyer. Ms. Hagmeyer was weird in many ways. The thing is, she had a large pointer that turned out to be a sharp needle! Her cabinets were filled with disgusting weird things like eyes of all types of animals. She had snake eyes, dragon eyes, phoenix eyes, spider eyes, toad eyes, and her panty hose each separately inserted into different cabinets that were supposed to be for the use of storing test and work files. The other thing was, she taught sewing all day long! You would think that Ms. Hagmeyer would be nice enough to teach sewing because only a motherly teacher would do that. But Leon's teacher was strange, so that was that.

Each day, Leon is subjected to sewing plush animals stuffed with the teacher's panty hose. The other thing was, Leon had trouble at all the sewing that he only got 2 stitches per inch, which was less than the admirable and acceptable amount, 3 stitches per inch. Antoinette was the teacher's pet who could easily obtain seven stitches per inch. Anyway, Leon got angry and frustrated. He was mad, tired, and once he got home everyday his mind was finally at rest and filled with relief. One day, the whole class had a trip to the Medieval Times Museum of Art and Literature. Leon passed by a strange gargoyle who had black tar looking stains in his mouth, while some of it oozed onto the floor. Many people quickly assumed that spitting had magical powers. The other day, Leon had met a fantastic and kind driver named Napoleon on his way to school. It turned out that Napoleon said that spitting makes good luck come people's way as well, so Leon was well- suspicious and curious about all these spitting theories.

It was a big day for Leon. First of all, he was to hand in a doll that was supposed to have the most stitches per inch as possible. The other thing was, Napoleon showed up again with a taxi driver from Suriname. Suriname was the last city that he needed to complete South America! Leon happily thanked Napoleon and quickly ran to finish his final doll. Leon was almost certain that he would fail and stay in the teacher's class for next year. Leon became worried sick and there were only five more days until he had to hand in his doll.

Leon created a doll of Ms. Hagmeyer that looked exactly like her. It was her mirror face- it was her spitting image. After Leon had accidentally spilt some spit onto the doll, something extraordinary happened. He moved the doll teacher's arms. Ms. Hagmeyer raised her own arms, deeply in a trance. He tried to make her skip and jump a few feet into the air with the doll. She too skipped with a rope and jumped a few feet in the air. Napoleon was right after all- something incredibly magical was hidden inside the secret of spitting. Although he couldn't believe his new victory, Leon had more plans. He was planning to get revenge-he was planning to make Ms. Hagmeyer do what she told the class to do. His days of being tortured and teased were over! But before he could do that, he needed to get rid of something else as well... which was obviously the one and only Henry Lumpkin.

All of a sudden the doll stopped working. Leon couldn't