Fourteen-year-old Davie and his best friend, Geordie, are altar boys at their local Catholic Church. They’re full of mischief, but that all c...
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Oct 24, 2011
Claudia
rated it: 
What to say about CLAY? I think Brent said it best: Frankenstein meets Demian, meets The Outsiders, with a twist of the old Golem story. David and his best friend Geordie have it pretty good...they steal scramental wine from the church and cigarettes from their dads. They run the neighborhood, looking out for Mouldy, the school bully. They lead a typical life, until Stephen Rose comes to town.
Stephen comes to live with his Crazy Aunt Mary; his father is dead, and his mother is hospital More...
Stephen comes to live with his Crazy Aunt Mary; his father is dead, and his mother is hospital More...
Sep 03, 2011
Katie
rated it: 
Here's the first thing I have to say about this book: I got through most of it. No, not even got through it...I rather enjoyed the first 3/4ths of the novel. But something about it just didn't do it for me. I'm usually the first person to see a book through, but as soon as another book came along...well, goodbye CLAY. Maybe it was because it was outdated, or that the characters were from 1980 Ireland/Britain. It was creepy and every time I put it down, I felt like I'd just been dreaming. Not in
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Apr 29, 2011
Jamie
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If you like creepy, this is the book for you! In Clay, by David Almond, fourteen-year-old Davie, and his best friend Geordie, are altar boys in their English town. As they are hanging out one day, they see Crazy Mary, a neighbor, and a boy, a little older than themselves, get out of a taxi and go into Crazy Mary’s home. Life won’t be the same any more for Davie.
The boy’s name is Stephen, and Crazy Mary is his aunt. He’s staying with her because his Dad died, and his Mom is crazy. F More...
The boy’s name is Stephen, and Crazy Mary is his aunt. He’s staying with her because his Dad died, and his Mom is crazy. F More...
Apr 12, 2011
Gena
rated it: 
David Almond is constantly surprising me. I knew immediately that this would be like the golem story, but I continued on, expecting something more than that, and I was not disappointed. I swallowed the entire thing in one afternoon and my brother will testify when I tell you that there were moments when I would just set it down and squeal in delight at Almond's genius. His themes of faith, servitude, and friendship are incredibly pervasive within the surreal plot and almost childish narration. T
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Aug 31, 2010
Caren
rated it: 
Vaguely like the 'Golem' myth (in which Rabbi Loew, in 16th century Prague, brings a life-sized clay figure to life to guard the persecuted Jews of the ghetto, only to have the figure rage out of control and necessitating its destruction), Almond has presented a truly creepy story set in Felling, the town in northern England in which he grew up. Thirteen-year-old Davie and his friend, Geordie, befriend the troubled but artisitic Stephen, who is living with his aunt, Crazy Mary. Gradually Stephen
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Sep 06, 2011
Vincent
rated it:
Having loved 'Skellig' and 'Kit’s Wilderness,' and having read some glowing reviews for this book, I began ‘Clay’ with high expectations. I’m sorry to say I was somewhat disappointed. It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly what didn’t work for me in this story, so I’ll start with what I liked about it. David Almond is great when it comes to writing natural sounding dialogue. He seems to understand the rhythm of how children and teenagers speak and his conversations between characters are always be
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Oct 14, 2011
Ms.
rated it:
I found this novel to be an inventive and well-written take on the Frankenstein concept. Davie and Geordie, two British lads, meet a mysterious and dark character named Stephen Rose who claims to be able to breathe life into his clay creations.
As Davie learns more about Stephen's past, or so his thinks, an unsettling chain of events is gradually set in motion. Who or what is Stephen? Does pure goodness or pure evil truly exist? This novel poses some thought-provoking questions tha More...
As Davie learns more about Stephen's past, or so his thinks, an unsettling chain of events is gradually set in motion. Who or what is Stephen? Does pure goodness or pure evil truly exist? This novel poses some thought-provoking questions tha More...
Apr 08, 2010
Davie has talent in sculpturing and Stephen is a sculpturer. He sees that Davie has talent and he wants Davie to help him with a sculpture. Stephen is hoping to have Davie to help him and form Clay. They believed they shared the same gift talent that they can make sculptures alive. Clay is a golem they formed together and Stephen is going to make use of Clay.
I can connect this to this movie i saw before. The Night of the Museum because i just thought of that movie when i read this bo More...
I can connect this to this movie i saw before. The Night of the Museum because i just thought of that movie when i read this bo More...
Aug 19, 2009
Joe
rated it:
Davie is a perfectly ordinary boy growing up in England in the 1960's. He and his best mate Geordie are altar boys at their Catholic church, have a standing feud with the Protestant boys from the next neighborhood over and spend their free time exploring the secrets of the overrun Braddock garden. When a strange boy named Stephen Rose moves into their neighborhood Davie is plunged into a dark and terrible world that forces him to question everything he holds dear.
Author David Almond More...
Author David Almond More...
Jan 30, 2009
I think that when I read this book again, I will likely give it four stars - maybe five. For now, I'm going to have to stick with three because when I got to the end of this book, I felt almost like I was someone's gollum: bland, dry, and flat. SPOILER ALERT (kind of): I think it had a lot to do with the fact that halfway through the story, I thought I knew what was going to happen, then found out toward the end that I had been completely deceived. And what's worse, the guy who deceives you gets
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Aug 30, 2010
Caroline
rated it:
I discovered David Almond reading Skellig. He has the incredible ability to write spooky and sinister books for younger readers as well as for adults. There seems to be a very thin line between writing children books and writing challenging books and David Almond seems to be extremely talented at writing precisely on that line.
In the same way, Neil Gaiman's books for younger readers have the same capacity to captivate children and develop at the same time very serious themes. I really love More...
In the same way, Neil Gaiman's books for younger readers have the same capacity to captivate children and develop at the same time very serious themes. I really love More...
Feb 09, 2011
Katie
rated it:
David Almond's 2006 novel, Clay, is, like many other books by this author, a tale of boyhood in northeastern England. It's the story of a young Catholic altar boy whose priest encourages him to befriend Stephen Rose, the strange new boy in town, who was thrown out of the seminary for mysterious reasons. As Davie, the story's protagonist, spends more and more time with the newcomer, he finds that the boy possesses strange and dangerous powers, powers that enable him to create life from ordinary c
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Apr 26, 2009
Billie
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I've often what kind of mind a person has to write a book like this. I was uncomfortable as chapter after chapter twisted creation as we might believe the world, animal, plant, and human creation to be. The thought of cloning always drew from my inner most being uncomfortable feelings of morality. As Stephen creates miniature models of people (apostles as we will come to understand)Davie is drawn in to the scenario that Stephen needs companionship (so the priest encourages) because Stephen fa
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Dec 20, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
Reviewed by Holly for TeensReadToo.com
"I am here master, command me."
Thirteen-year-old Davie and his best friend, Geordie, have a wild time when Stephen Rose moves into Crazy Mary's house; she's the craziest woman they know. When the church paster informs Davie that he is expected to be friends with this new, weird kid, he is in shock.
When Stephen shows Davie how they both have powers to make things come to life, Davie's life starts falling apart. More...
"I am here master, command me."
Thirteen-year-old Davie and his best friend, Geordie, have a wild time when Stephen Rose moves into Crazy Mary's house; she's the craziest woman they know. When the church paster informs Davie that he is expected to be friends with this new, weird kid, he is in shock.
When Stephen shows Davie how they both have powers to make things come to life, Davie's life starts falling apart. More...
Nov 19, 2007
LFPL Teen Services
rated it:
Use a piece of clay as a prop for the booktalk.
Here’s a simple piece of clay. You can use it to shape things, make a bowl, an ashtray, or a sculpture. But what if you can breathe life into your creation and make it come alive?
That’s what Stephen Rose tells Davie they can do. Stephen Rose is the new kid in town. He’s kinda weird. He lives with his aunt, Crazy Mary. They call her that because she’s crazy and her name is Mary.
There are a lot of rumors and i More...
Here’s a simple piece of clay. You can use it to shape things, make a bowl, an ashtray, or a sculpture. But what if you can breathe life into your creation and make it come alive?
That’s what Stephen Rose tells Davie they can do. Stephen Rose is the new kid in town. He’s kinda weird. He lives with his aunt, Crazy Mary. They call her that because she’s crazy and her name is Mary.
There are a lot of rumors and i More...
Dec 22, 2011
Den
rated it:
I couldn't get into this book at all. A sad teen comes to town and two altar boys are asked to befriend him. The sad boy, Stephen Rose, sees something he likes in Davie. Stephen can magically bring clay creatures to life. He convinces Davie that he too can bring creatures to life and together they create Clay - a life-size figure who is totally innocent but Stephen has evil uses for him. Can Clay be stopped? You know something I wasn't bothered what happened to Clay or any of the characters.
Mar 01, 2011
Michaela
rated it:
Well... I read it. I don't really know what to say about this book. Asking whether or not I liked it has about the same effect as asking me about the morality of frosting a cake in white or yellow. I just don't know what to say. It was well written with a clever plot and brilliantly evocative dialogue and prose, but the whole thing felt so other that I just don't really know what to do with it. I don't think I'd recommend it to most people, but perhaps, as a conservative Christian, I wasn't
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Nov 06, 2007
April (CSI:Librarian)
rated it:
Thirteen year-old Davie is an altar boy in a small town in the north county of England. He worries about avoiding a bully nicknamed Mouldy with his best friend Georgie and is eager to get a date with the very attractive . His life is relatively normal until a new boy named Stephen Rose moves into Crazy Mary’s house. Together they will create a man from clay and the consequences are more severe than Davie could have ever bargained for. But what truly motivates Stephen and why has he become such a
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Aug 09, 2009
Janet
rated it:
Almond is a master of language. By the bottom of page 2 I was squarely in the main character’s middle class Irish Catholic mind, with such a true voice and attention to detail that that alone would have kept me reading. But this is also a powerful story – a frightening story – of good and evil, of imagination and religion, of the lives of young restless lads who wander about their small town looking for adventures. I believed every word of it.
Oct 11, 2009
Mayday
rated it: 
WARNING: This book is highly disturbing and uses the word nowt a lot (heheheh it rhymes!) which, BTW, means "nothing" (literally- his overuse was driving me MAD)
OK-
I think that David Alomnd may possess a mental illness. No really. You'd have to be insane to write a book like this!
Same dude who wrote Skelling too. That book was even weirder: about a guy with wings living in a shack that two kids find. Strange, I tell you.
OK-
I think that David Alomnd may possess a mental illness. No really. You'd have to be insane to write a book like this!
Same dude who wrote Skelling too. That book was even weirder: about a guy with wings living in a shack that two kids find. Strange, I tell you.
Jan 20, 2010
this book was very disturbing. It was twisted and as I kept reading i thought who thinks of this stuff!! At some parts of the book I had to put it down because it was a little too much for my taste, but i was captivated. I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen next. I thought the ending was going to be predictable but it wasn't. It really took me for a ride.
Mar 09, 2009
Jon
rated it:
This book took me longer to get through than the other Almond books I've read so far, but I don't think this means it was any less interesting or though-provoking. I see some of the same themes being dealt with here--navigating the threshold between childhood and adulthood and reconciling the light and dark halves of humanity especially--but I think the treatment is both more raw and more sophisticated than in other books. (And please don't ask me to explain what I mean by that--don't think I co
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Aug 22, 2010
This is the first book that I might consider part of the horror genre and that I truly loved. The content might be too controversial for some young adults (blasphemy, doubt in existence of God, violence, mental illness, alcoholism, and child abuse). I was fascinated by how Almond portrays mental illness.
Apr 06, 2009
Erika
rated it:
A good golem story set in Ireland. A lonely boy meets a new boy in town and the two of them fashion a golemn and imbue it with magic. The other boy wants to golem to do evil things while the main character struggles with the morality of what he's done. A good novel that doesn't get much attention from teens.
Sep 27, 2009
Relyn
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Dec 01, 2011
Michele
rated it:
So astonished to read a David Almond book and not be completely entranced and touched in some way. Wavering between an it was ok and didn't like.There were some very interesting themes such as faith,gangs, growing up, mental illness but these were all pushed to one side in favour of the unreal Stephen Rose. Didn't get it I am afraid.
Feb 24, 2011
Erin
rated it:
Creeeeeepy, but a good read overall. Davie discovers that there is much more to the new boy in town than he expected. Expect quite a bit of religious overtones and a healthy dose of British colloquialism.
May 19, 2010
marc
rated it:
what is this thing about exactly? scotland? power? tyranny? jesus? a grotesque moaning shrine to sin and nonsense far more "young adult" than (and totally undeserved by) its target demographic. take it away!
Jul 28, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
I wanted to like this book, but I just can't. There were some interesting thoughts, but overall it's just a terrible book. Want a truly good book about the responsibility of a creator for its creation? Read Frankenstein.
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May 27, 2010
Katie
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Confusing at first but really an amazing story. Could be a twilight zone episode!! One of my favorite books though I am not athiest or into science-fiction. I love this book!
