The Spelling Bee

In this good-natured if slight first novel, Ruth Stetter, an unmarried, 64-year-old proofreader for a small printing company, is replaced by a computerized spell-checking program called ""RiteWord."" Driven mad by the proliferation of ""cute"" spellings and refusing to accept that she and her craft are obsolete, Ruth sets out to teach her small town of Stillwell a lesson about the value of doing things the old-fashioned way. Enlisting the help of 12-year-old Duncan Worthy, a kid left to watch TV and read comics while his mother works, spunky Ruth repaints the sign at the ""E-Z 'n Quik Mart"" to read ""Easy and Quick Mart."" The town doesn't get the message until Ruth and Duncan break into a grocery and change the names on the boxes of ""Tastee Bitz"" to ""Tasty Bites."" Declaring it product tampering, the police and local news media get on the case. Duncan makes Ruth a disguise--a black-and-yellow striped raincoat that transforms her into the Spelling Bee. Ruth buzzes about, plotting further capers that lure the local media, especially an ambitious TV reporter who hopes to catch the bee on tape. The hunt reaches fever pitch when the Spelling Bee takes on the anti-litter campaign--""Be A Pic-Up PeePal."" Davis, a one-time news reporter who produces documentaries for public TV in Alabama, has created a sweet tale that is about as sophisticated as an episode of Sesame Street. (Oct.)