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Wild Things

by Clay Carmichael (Goodreads Author)

3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 · rating details · 974 ratings · 258 reviews

A headstrong girl. A stray cat. A wild boy. A man who plays with fire. Eleven-year-old Zoe trusts no one. Her father left before she was born. At the death of her irresponsible mother, Zoe goes to live with her uncle, former surgeon and famed metal sculptor Dr. Henry Royster. She's sure Henry will fail her as everyone else has. Reclusive since his wife's death, Henry takes...more

Hardcover, 241 pages

Published May 1st 2009 by Front Street, an imprint of Boyds Mills Press

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Lists with This Book

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17th out of 104 books — 456 voters

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74th out of 84 books — 76 voters

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Community Reviews

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Nov 06, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Andrew S. Cohen for TeensReadToo.com

In WILD THINGS, protagonist Zoe no longer trusts anyone. Both her parents have now left her; her father left at an early age, and now her mother, an irresponsible mother and slob, has died. As a result of her traumatic, unbelievably self-sufficient childhood, Zoe trusts only herself.

To begin, Zoe goes to live with her uncle, Dr. Henry Royster, a surgeon. In his house she finds massive sharp metal sculptures dangling in a room, as she finds out her...more

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May 25, 2010 The Reading Countess rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-alouds

Publisher's Summary: With her father long gone, spunky eleven-year-old Zoe is shuffled from relative to relative after her mother dies. The story opens as she arrives at her uncle Henry Royster's Farm outside Sugar Hill, a small Southern town.
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Zoe is a bright girl who has seen it all. Forced to care for herself due to her mother's struggles with mental illness, she is a tough nut to crack when she lands on her Uncle Henry's d...more Publisher's Summary: With her father long gone, spunky eleven-year-old Zoe is shuffled from relative to relative after her mother dies. The story opens as she arrives at her uncle Henry Royster's Farm outside Sugar Hill, a small Southern town.
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Zoe is a bright girl who has seen it all. Forced to care for herself due to her mother's struggles with mental illness, she is a tough nut to crack when she lands on her Uncle Henry's doorstep. At first, Henry seems ill-equipped to care for such a wounded soul. However, Henry has seen his own share of pain and knows precisely how to handle a wild thing like his niece.

The novel is told in a double narrative, with a feral cat helping to lend voice to parts of the story that an eleven year old narrator would be unable to relay. Just when the reader thinks he/she knows where the story is going, Carmichael cleverly weaves in several subplots to the text that add a new dimension and difficulty. An albino deer, the deer's near-wild caretaker, and Zoe's love of writing add a layer of depth to the story that is sure to capture the imagination of even the most reluctant reader. Add to all of this the overriding theme of trust, and this novel is a surefire hit with my students.

I was searching for my next read aloud when I stumbled across this title quite by accident. I have just a few genres left to cover, with fantasy being one of them. Wild Things is a different twist on the age-old thoughts about fantasy. My students are voracious readers of fantasy. A cursory glance at their reader's notebooks tells me that fantasy reigns supreme. But my readers are used to fairies, drazons or wizards making an appearance in their books. This book will surprise them. For although there are no fairies, wizards of dragons, Wild Things still makes a delightful fantasy read.

I especially love that there is a lot of instructional "meat" in the book: double narrative, theme (we call this the "so-what" in our room), and subplots will be explored when we read this next genre in my class. Yes, I have made my decision on my next read aloud, and my kids will be begging for more to be read each day.

Favorite passages:
"...Bessie says folks are starved for beauty." (p. 49)

"You know the thing that burns me most about being a kid?" I yelled at Henry when we got in the truck. "The worst thing about being a kid is that people twice my size with half my brains get to run my life." Henry sighed. "Wait till you start voting." (p. 72)

After thatm only one thing made school bearable: Ms. Avery wasn't as dull as I'd thought. When I got to my desk on Monday, I found a book and a note: I think you might like this, if you haven't already read it. If you like it, I have others. E. Avery....I lived for Ms. Avery's books and for the last bell..." (p. 77)
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Apr 04, 2009 Louise added it

If you adored Wendy reading to the Lost Boys; if you were tickled by Opal's collection of misfit friends in Because of Winn-Dixie; if you remember how Spyri's Heidi won over her stern grandfather -- then you will welcome the loving vision behind this middle-grade gem. No character here is easily pegged or one-dimensional, least of all Mr. C'Mere, the cat who narrates inter-chapters and is featured in the author's beautiful pen and ink drawings throughout the book. WILD THINGS is about finding ho...more

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Feb 21, 2009 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: coming-of-age

At least once or twice a year, I come across a book that is so engaging that I truly savor the reading experience, often reading slower than I normally do, to prolong my brief interaction with the characters; and for me, Wild Things just hit so many right notes. We follow two completely independent people, each battle scared and world weary, with set understandings of the world around them, and yet each of them meets the one person who locks in them the missing theme in their lives- which happen...more

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May 01, 2013 Catherine rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have just finished the book Wild Things by Clay Carmichael. The characterization of the main girl Zöe is indirect but easy to read. It is very hard for Zöe to trust anyone because since her mum died she has been living with many of her mothers different boyfriends and none of them have given her their loyalty. So when she comes to Henry, her uncle, it is hard for her to understand that she can rely on him. Another indirect characterization is she is very responsible. She has always taken care...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Ed added it

Carmichael, Clay. (2009). Wild Things. Ashville, NC: Front Street. 167 pp. ISBN 978-1-59078-627-7 (Hardback); $16.99

Zoe is stuck with Uncle Henry, another person sure to leave her. Uncle Henry’s art joins forces with a feral boy to convince Zoe that love is possible, even for a wild thing like her. Carmichael knits together all the threads in this mythic tale with an artist’s eye. The voices are magical, unique, and very real. Zoe tells her story with bitter humor: “people twice my size with hal...more

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Mar 06, 2012 IndyPL Kids Book Blog rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kid-life

Zoe is eleven and she’s tough as nails. She’s taken care of herself for as long as she can remember because the grown-ups in her life have either been gone (her dad) or unreliable (her mom, and her mom’s string of boyfriends).

Zoe knows how to grocery shop, vacuum, scrub toilets, do laundry, drive a stickshift & place bets at the track. What she doesn’t know, is how to be a kid.

Now, Zoe’s Mom is dead and the next person in line to take care of her is an old Uncle she never even knew she had,...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Karin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: gutsy-girls, kids-with-adult-problems, death-of-parent-or-parents, mental-illness, families, trust, relationships, relationship-problems, friendship, cats, mystery, art, borrowed-from-the-library, realistic, 2012-caudill-nominees

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When 11-year old Zoë’s mother passes away, she is taken in by her uncle, Dr. Henry Royster. Both are accustomed to being on their own – Zoë had to take care of herself because of her mom’s mental illness and poor choices, and Henry lost wife #3 and became an artist (he makes large metal sculptures) – and both are rather independent and stubborn. Like the feral cat, Mr. C’mere, that Zoë attempts to befriend, she’s a little wild and slow to trust. When Henry forces Zoë to attend school (5th grade,...more When 11-year old Zoë’s mother passes away, she is taken in by her uncle, Dr. Henry Royster. Both are accustomed to being on their own – Zoë had to take care of herself because of her mom’s mental illness and poor choices, and Henry lost wife #3 and became an artist (he makes large metal sculptures) – and both are rather independent and stubborn. Like the feral cat, Mr. C’mere, that Zoë attempts to befriend, she’s a little wild and slow to trust. When Henry forces Zoë to attend school (5th grade, so she can be with her ‘peers’ and where she’s terribly, terribly bored) for the first time in her life, Zoë takes to keeping a journal – one of the assignments her sympathetic teacher gives her. She begins writing her memoir, and is furious when her classmate Hargrove steals it and uses it to find her secret cabin in the woods. Zoë has another secret, too, about the white deer (Sister) and its human shadow, Wil. When Hargrove is injured and Wil is suspected, Zoë finally has to decide whether or not to confide in Henry and the other people who she is just coming to know and love.

Although Zoë is just a kid, her uncle treats her with respect and gives her a lot of leeway and lenience – he seems to understand that she needs to do things her own way, and that that way may not necessarily be wrong. It’s a delicate balancing act, because he wants to protect her and keep her safe from harm, but safety isn’t always Zoë’s priority. Zoë’s experiences with her mother have made her older and wiser beyond her years, but they’ve also made her cautious about opening up to and loving other people. She has a lot of conflicted feelings, too, which she’s working through on her own. Readers who get inside her head will fall in love with this smart, tough little girl. An extremely satisfying read with excellent, well-developed characters.

It’s interesting to note that Clay Carmichael got the idea for this story from a tom cat she gentled and tamed. There are chapters from the cat’s point of view interspersed with Zoë’s observations/memoir.(less)

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Jan 20, 2012 Allison Parker rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: juvenile

Zoё has just lost her single mother, a mentally ill woman who left Zoё to fend for herself most of her life anyway. So it's a big adjustment for her to move in with her new legal guardian, Uncle Henry, a strange, rough man who not only was a renowned medical doctor, but who is equally famous in the art world for his dramatic metalwork sculptures. Zoё feels closer to the black and white cat who roams the woods around Henry's home and rural town. As Zoё too starts exploring the area, she gradually...more

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Apr 07, 2011 Hilary rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, grades-5-6, grades-7-8, orphans

After the death of her mother, Zoe is sent to live with her reclusive uncle, Henry, whom she has never met. Zoe has had a life of misfortune with a mentally unstable mother and her plethora of loser boyfriends. She doesn't expect Henry to stick around for long, after all no one else ever has, so why should he be any different? As the months go by, though, she begins to learn that Henry may be worth trusting, as well as some of the other people who live nearby.
Ugh. I really wanted to like this bo...more

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Dec 13, 2010 Lauren rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the book Wild Things by Clay Carmichael. This story is about a litte eleven year old girl named Zoe. Zoe has had a rough life: her negligent mother has just passed and she is sent to live with her uncle-a sculpter who can seem to mend anything but his broken heart. Zoe skeptically calles her uncles sculptures "wild things." Because Zoe has never had a good example of an adult role model, she is very aprehensive about trusting her uncle. Upon her arrival to his house, she is immi...more

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Dec 12, 2010 Kelsey Carroll rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read the book The Wild Things by Clay Carmichael is about a little red-headed eleven year old girl named Zoe. I really loved this book. It could be one of my favorites thus far in this class. She is obstinate, autonomous, newly orphaned child. Zoe moves to the country to live with her uncle (a doctor turned sculptor) after her negligent mother passes away. Zoe immediately is interested in her new home because of the woods surrounding it. Sadly for Zoe, she has had unstable adult figures in her...more

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Dec 12, 2010 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found The Wild Things to be a very interesting book, I do have to say it was not what I expected nor was it one of my favorites. This is a story about a girl named, Zoe. Zoe has always been pretty much on her own but she soon realizes that she is officially on her own due to the fact that her father has never been around and her mother suddenly dies. The story is told in two points of view, Zoe as well as a stray cat in the story. I really enjoy stories that have more than one point of view it...more

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Dec 12, 2010 Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Wild Things is about an eleven-year-old girl, Zoe, who is sent to live with her Uncle Henry in North Carolina when her mom dies. She has had a very rough life and has come to depend on and trust only herself. Throughout the story, Zoe learns about herself when she comes to befriend her uncle, his friends, and a wild boy who lives in the woods. Some parts of the story are told from Zoe’s point of view, while others are told from the point of view of a stray cat. I found this to make the story mor...more Wild Things is about an eleven-year-old girl, Zoe, who is sent to live with her Uncle Henry in North Carolina when her mom dies. She has had a very rough life and has come to depend on and trust only herself. Throughout the story, Zoe learns about herself when she comes to befriend her uncle, his friends, and a wild boy who lives in the woods. Some parts of the story are told from Zoe’s point of view, while others are told from the point of view of a stray cat. I found this to make the story more interesting because it was told from two points of view. I found the story very easy to get into because, although Zoe’s life story is sad, she is very independent and tough, which makes her story interesting to read. Some parts of the story seemed unlikely, though, so that made me question some parts of the plot a little bit. Overall, I think this book is a very good young adult book. Since I will be teaching the younger grades, though, I would not use this book in my classroom because the material is too mature and the book itself it too advanced.

Although I was not really able to make any strong personal connections with this book, I think that students reading this book would easily be able to make personal connections with the story. Teenagers and preteens often feel as if they are alone in the world and feel as if they have to be tough to survive. I think Zoe would be a very relatable character for many students, and that students would really get into her story in this book. Although it has been years since I read Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech, I found myself thinking of that book as I read Wild Things. In Chasing Redbird, the main character’s life has also been changed by death and she also looks for relief in the woods as she clears a trail through the woods. After reading Wild Things, I really want to reread Chasing Redbird so I can see just how alike and different they really are. In the classroom I think a teacher could help students to make text-to-world connections by thinking of what kind of “wildernesses” exist in the world and how these are similar to what Zoe faces in the story.
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Dec 07, 2010 Lyndi rated it 2 of 5 stars

I actually have to say I was not a huge fan of this book. I had a hard time getting into it and then when some of the things seemed really unbelievable, I was really having a hard time getting through it. I also think the fact that the book was narrated by both the little girl and the tom cat was kind of a turn off for me. I did feel bad for Zoe considering her mother was crazy and Zoe had been practically raised by her mother's different boyfriends throughout the years. I hate hearing about thi...more

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Dec 03, 2010 Monica DeBlieck rated it 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book for the most part. What really interested me about this book was Zoe’s strong and fiery personality. She is a young girl who has been through a lot and and has had to face the reality of growing up too fast. Her dad left before she was ever even born and her mom dies so Zoe is left to live with her Uncle.
I also liked this book because of the narration. Zoe narrates in first person while the tomcat chimes in in some of the chapters, adding observations. I think the way the au...more I liked this book for the most part. What really interested me about this book was Zoe’s strong and fiery personality. She is a young girl who has been through a lot and and has had to face the reality of growing up too fast. Her dad left before she was ever even born and her mom dies so Zoe is left to live with her Uncle.
I also liked this book because of the narration. Zoe narrates in first person while the tomcat chimes in in some of the chapters, adding observations. I think the way the author wrote the book made it interesting to read.
When Zoe meets her wild friend, Wil, who runs wild in the woods, things really start to change and her adventure begins. I like the quote on page 161 when Maud says, “The wild ones are never completely tame..” Maud says this in reference to the deer, but the reader can tell it is a foreshadow of events to come and characters in the story.
The way that Zoe suspects that her uncle will let her down, like everyone else has, is perfectly normal for her to feel. However, it’s pretty cool to see how her relationship progresses throughout the story with Henry. The two end up having a lot in common and because of him, Zoe makes some unlikely friends.
I thought this was a pretty good book except for when events started getting unlikely. Still, I think that is what also kept the book enchanting that wanting to find out what was going to happen next. I liked the element of surprise I felt when I was reading and I think overall this was a good book to read.
I read that this was the author’s first novel and I think she did a great job. She went out on a limb, I think, to tell the story in a different way than most authors would. This book was different than most books I’ve read and it’s also hard for me to relate to myself because I’ve never been through the things that Zoe’s been through. Sometimes that makes it hard for me to read a book, but I think it’s what kept me interested, because it was so different. I think this would be an awesome book for young adults to read, especially those going through tough times like Zoe was. I did enjoy this book and would recommend it for those interested in reading about adventures.

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Nov 26, 2010 Kate Winkler rated it 4 of 5 stars

After Zoe’s mother dies, she ends up living with her half-uncle Henry. Henry, a doctor turned metal sculptor, is the only dependable adult in Zoe's life. Unlike Zoe's mother and her string of no-good boyfriends, Henry is able to provide Zoe with basic needs like clothing and shelter. For the first time in her life, Zoe must attend school regularly. Mixed together with Zoe's story are excerpts focused on a stray cat that lives under Henry's porch, which is supposed to match Zoe's life.

Zoe has an...more

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Jun 02, 2010 Mrs. Foley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Stubborn, self-reliant, eleven-year-old Zoe, recently orphaned, moves to the country to live with her prickly half-uncle, a famous doctor and sculptor, and together they learn about trust and the strength of family. - From library catalog

I read this book for an educator book group I am in. It is a very good book with multiple layers. You can read and enjoy it at the surface level or really go deeper. Even though the protagonist is young, the book interest level is at a much older age (including...more

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Apr 23, 2010 Eva Mitnick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children

Zoe's voice, tough and knowing but also full of humor and curiosity, is so compelling that I was immediately hooked. Henry, gruff and complicated, is equally intriguing, and the two of them make a well-matched pair that readers will root for from the first. It's unusual for a children's book to focus almost entirely on the strong and important relationships a child has with the adults in her life, but that is this book's strength. Adults have such a huge influence over a child's life and so it's...more

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Apr 10, 2010 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: j, life, not-graphic

"Wild" can mean many different things--even over the course of this story--but we're immediately given our primary metaphor when the book opens with a feral cat. Twelve-year-old Zoe is feral. Life has taught her to be self-sufficient, intelligent, wise, independent, creative, and fierce. It's also taught her to trust no one, ever, because trust always gets betrayed. She needs no one and wants no one.

Zoe has survived the neglectful lifestyle of her mentally ill, substance-addicted mother and a re...more

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Apr 05, 2010 Carol Baldwin rated it 4 of 5 stars

A stray cat. An orphaned pre-teen girl. A heart surgeon turned metal sculptor. A young boy rejected by his domineering father. A wild homeless boy and his albino deer. Mix these all together and what do you have? If you're author/illustrator Clay Carmichael, then you have the beautiful 2010 ALA Notable book, Wild Things. Some books are meant to be savored, read slowly and enjoyed page by page. This is one of them.

The story is about kindred spirits who are in some way, in need of home and family...more

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Oct 22, 2009 Brenda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Zoe is a young girl who has had to grow up fast. Her mom was in and out of hospitals battling her own demons leaving Zoe to fend for herself for the most part. When Zoe's mother dies unexpectantly, she moves in with a half-uncle named Henry and quickly realizes that not only do they both have flaming red-hair but they also share a very quick temper. Uncle Henry use to be a heart surgeon but has decided instead to focus on his art by creating giant metal sculptures in the small-town where he grew...more Zoe is a young girl who has had to grow up fast. Her mom was in and out of hospitals battling her own demons leaving Zoe to fend for herself for the most part. When Zoe's mother dies unexpectantly, she moves in with a half-uncle named Henry and quickly realizes that not only do they both have flaming red-hair but they also share a very quick temper. Uncle Henry use to be a heart surgeon but has decided instead to focus on his art by creating giant metal sculptures in the small-town where he grew up. Zoe is instantly drawn to her new house and especially the woods that surround it. She "senses" an old tom-cat who hides nearby and gently tries to coax it into her life just as Uncle Henry is trying to coax Zoe into his. One day, Zoe is wondering around the woods when she comes across an abandoned log cabin and discovers a "wild boy", who can not read or write, living in the woods. And that is where the adventure really begins.

This story started out strong and I really liked the two main characters of Zoe and Uncle Henry. However, half-way through the book, the story vered away from reality a little too much for my taste. I could see how Zoe would be able to basically raise herself with the help of her mother's many boyfriends but it is hard for me to believe that a young boy at the age of 5 or 6 could raise himself in the woods to the point where he could not only speak good English but also have a friendly relationship with Zoe. I liked how the author used the cat as an analogy to Zoe and it is from the cat's point of view that we learn the story of the young boy from birth to the age of abandonment. But the story expects the a lot of the reader in just accepting the story line. The other part that bothered me was how the characters of Fred and Bessie where just too unreal to me with their open arms to all strangers and good nature. I liked the characters but I just found them to be too good to be plausible. In fact, the entire ending was just too unbelievable for me.(less)

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Jul 25, 2011 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: star-reader-2011-2012, waw-2011-2012

Zoe Sophia Royster, 11 sneaking up on 12, has had a turbulent, migratory childhood, living with her mentally ill and unfit mother. She never knew her father, long gone by the time she was born. Zoe is scrappy, smart beyond her tender years, capable of caring for herself, always in survival mode. When her mother finally checks out for good,she finds herself living with a long lost uncle, an eccentric artist who prefers to keep to his own company. But uncle Henry grows quickly fond of his new ward...more

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Feb 04, 2010 Melody rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Extraordinary. I had to let it simmer overnight before I could come up with anything resembling a coherent review. This is a wonderful book, and I loved it enough that I wish I hadn't read it so I could read it again for the first time.

The characters are agreeably prickly, including the feral old cat who is deeply suspicious of people. The passages narrated by the cat are maybe just a little hokey, but I loved 'em anyway. In my opinion, the descriptions of what it's like to be an artist are dead...more

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Sep 11, 2011 Josiah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Though she has written a few shorter children's books in the past, Wild Things is the debut novel for Clay Carmichael, and it is an absolutely wonderful one. A reader can never be sure what to expect when encountering the work of an author previously unknown to him or her, but it took me only a few pages to recognize that the writing in this book has all the classic pace and depth of feeling that marks many of the best novels I've ever read, and often distinguishes a book as either being worthy...more Though she has written a few shorter children's books in the past, Wild Things is the debut novel for Clay Carmichael, and it is an absolutely wonderful one. A reader can never be sure what to expect when encountering the work of an author previously unknown to him or her, but it took me only a few pages to recognize that the writing in this book has all the classic pace and depth of feeling that marks many of the best novels I've ever read, and often distinguishes a book as either being worthy of Newbery recognition, or at least right there in the mix as a top contender. Wild Things is such a lovely and emotionally honest story that I could have easily seen it copping a 2010 Newbery, which is high praise indeed in a year that saw Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose, Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin, The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo and Everything for a Dog by Ann M. Martin as just a few of the eligible competitors for the Newbery awards.

The basic premise behind Wild Things (an orphaned girl going off to start fresh by living in a totally new place with a distant relative) is so commonly known and frequently written about in the recent history of literature that it might be easy to expect the book to fall into well-worn patterns of development, but that certainly does not turn out to be the case here. With freshness of thought and plenty of creative vigor, Clay Carmichael unfurls the beautiful story that she has so carefully wrought, imbuing the characters with realistic, vibrant personalities that will likely make a permanent impression on the reader's memory. In fact, it is more than just Zoë, the main girl in the story, and her Uncle Henry, the gruff artist that has agreed to be her legal guardian, who are so memorable in their personality traits. It seems that everyone introduced in the story is painted with carefully detailed, intricate brushstrokes, not a single character coming across as one-dimensional or unbelievable. That richness of characterization provides such an added fullness to the experience of reading the book.

Zoë, at age eleven, has had mostly tough times in her life up to this point. Her mother had battled with some form of manic depressive mental illness for many years, bouncing back and forth between behavior that was either over the top or down in the dumps, but never adequately caring for Zoë no matter what her mood of the day might have been. Along with the high times came a long string of live-in boyfriends who ranged in attitude from indifferent toward Zoë to downright mean to her, and none of them were ever anything close to filling the role of the father who had run off prior to the day when Zoë was first born into the light of this world.

When her mother dies, it's Zoë's Uncle Henry who steps in and offers to care of his niece. It's easy to understand why a girl in Zoë's situation would be wary of trusting yet another grownup who's supposed to be someone on whom she can depend, and their method of relating to each other doesn't develop quickly, or without definite hitches along the way. But as Zoë becomes more familiar with her Uncle, as well as their extraordinary neighbors and all the unique townsfolk who have been filling her new life with a kind of vital energy and color that she never previously knew, we begin to see genuine hope take root inside of Zoë for the first time in her life. Hope, in its truest form, is always a wonderful thing to watch grow inside of a human being, but never is that hope as pure or as valuable as when it is growing inside of a young kid. At its core, Wild Things is that kind of a story about watching hope first take root and start to grow into something special, complete with snags and the sort of inevitable bumps along the way that no life is free of entirely. Zoë may not have left the days of sadness behind her completely, but the worst that she will have to endure has already come and gone. She has a family that really cares about her now, and that's enough of a ballast to help one steer through some pretty bad storms.

You can bet that whenever Clay Carmichael releases her next full-length novel, I'll be eagerly waiting to read it. I love her writing style, how it so effectively joins in theme and voice with the best books of great authors such as Katherine Paterson, Cynthia Rylant and Sharon Creech, while still remaining every bit as fresh as the premiere of a terrific new talent ought to be, opening up our minds to the expression of new thoughts and ideas while at the same time faithfully returning to the solid base of our commonly shared emotion that all of the greatest books have in common. I highly recommend Wild Things, and I would definitely consider giving it three and a half stars. (less)

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Dec 22, 2009 Kathy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: j-fiction

In her first-ever stable home, 11-year-old Zoe gradually learns to trust her sculptor uncle Henry, works to tame a feral cat, and discovers relatives she never knew she had. Two wonderfully drawn characters, the street-smart, wary child and the brilliant, moody but loving uncle who often seems angry but not at her. The setting in a small southern town in North Carolina makes much of the nearby woods and offers constrastingly broad- and narrow-minded neighbors. The story is structured interesting...more

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Oct 04, 2009 Jess rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, 2009

I won this book (yay! I love goodreads giveaways!) and I'm glad I did. It was an engaging and heartwarming story about a young girl whose crazy mother has just died and so she goes to live with her heart surgeon/artist uncle. Throw in a cat who narrates and a wild teenage boy who can't read or write and you've got yourself a keeper. But seriously, it was still a good book.

I got this book for free from Goodreads first-reads... yay!

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Aug 14, 2010 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: grades 6-8

Shelves: children-realistic, audio

After her mother commits suicide, Zoe’s life completely changes—surprisingly, for the better. She goes to live with her Uncle Henry, a doctor-turned-artist, in his big house in a small town. With Uncle Henry, Zoe doesn’t have to take care of anyone except herself, unlike when she had to live with her mother and her male “friends.”

When not in school, Zoe spends her time trying to earn the trust of a stray cat she names Mr. C-mere, writing in her journal, and cleaning up an abandoned cabin she fin...more

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Jan 05, 2010 Deanna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Realistic fiction, orphans, family, identity, grief, cats, art, small town.

This was a quick read and I really enjoyed it. I didn't expect some of the things that happened in the end. Although I enjoyed this book and will definitely book talk it to kids and teachers--I didn't care of the parts when the cat talked. To me they didn't flow and changed perspectives. The writing needed to be tighter or something. But I loved the story when it was just about Zoe and Henry.

One of my favorite parts about...more

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Nov 02, 2010 Lisa Vegan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: cat lovers; those who enjoy quirky coming of age stories about 11 year old girls

Shelves: childrens, fiction, novel, gr-author, orphaned-and-quasi-orphaned-kids, reviewed, favorites

I am in love with this book.

It’s a phenomenal book, truly astounding. It’s one of those books that touched me so deeply, I felt like burying myself in it and not coming up for air.

I adore Mr. C’mere (also known as Mr. C) and Zoë and Henry, and so many more characters, including a couple that ended up surprising me, which was just lovely. The characters are incredibly memorable.

This is yet another book I’d give anything to have written; it’s another one of “my” books.

It reminds me a bit of The Gr ...more

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About Clay Carmichael

Because I can't always remember titles or I forget to email when people are kind enough to ask "What are you reading?"

Below are a few I've recently liked--or loved--some new, some not.

And I only review or archive books I like or love. Literature is a wildly subjective enterprise; one person's least favorite book may be a book someone else loves best of all.

"Be gentle with one another's efforts. Be...more

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Quotes from Wild Things

“I inhaled the musty, leathery, old-papery scent and a shiver passed over me. If I had any idea of heaven, it was this: shelves and shelves of books, ten times as many as were upstairs, each with stories or pictures more exciting and beautiful than the next, and two overstuffed chairs big enough for me to sleep in.” — 10 people liked it

“You know the thing that burns me most about being a kid?...The worst thing about being a kid is that people twice my size with half my brains get to run my life.

—Zoë” — 5 people liked it

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