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    Wild Things
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    Wild Things
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    Wild Things
    Audiobook6 hours

    Wild Things

    Written by Clay Carmichael

    Narrated by Liz Morton and Nicole Poole

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Celebrated by Kirkus Reviews as a Best Children’s Book of the Year, Wild Things is Clay Carmichael’s stunning debut novel. Following the death of her mentally ill mother, 11-year-old Zoe moves to North Carolina to live with her uncle, a metal sculptor named Henry. It doesn’t take long for the sharp-tongued Zoe to warm to some of the town’s eccentric residents, including a woods dwelling teenager, who helps Zoe in unexpected ways.

    “Carmichael uses a sure, light touch to portray the gradual blooming of trust among the story’s many wild things in this satisfying tale.”—Booklist
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books Audio
    Release dateApr 30, 2010
    ISBN9781449824754
    Unavailable
    Wild Things
    Author

    Clay Carmichael

    Clay Carmichael grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is the author-illustrator of the award-winning novel Wild Things and the picture books Bear at the Beach, Used-Up Bear and Lonesome Bear, which have been translated into many languages. She lives with her husband, sculptor Mike Roig, and an ever-growing number of spoiled feral cats in Carrboro, North Carolina.

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    Reviews for Wild Things

    4.5/5

    9 ratings9 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I love the voice in this book be it Zoe who trusts no one or the feral cat who gives insights into the past - well crafted, fast paced
    • 5/5
      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 on. The plot is taut, the coincidences and climaxes not so far out as to be surreal, the characters' growth is believable and heartwarming. And did I mention the cat? And the passing but suitably loving mention of favorite characters from classic kid-lit? (Which reminds me, I need to find out who Opal Buloni is- she's the only one I didn't recognize.)

      I want to read it again, right away. I can't remember how long it's been since I had that reaction to a middle-grade book.
    • 5/5
      Appealing, memorable, and exceptionally well-written coming-of-age story.
    • 4/5
      Eleven-year--old Zoe is brilliant-and street smart. Having raised herself, (with no help from her drug- addicted, mentally ill mother or her mother's endless series of lowlife boyfriends) she trusts no one. When her mother dies unexpectedly she is placed in the care of her father's half-brother, an ex-surgeon turned artist. For the first time in her life, Zoe has a home and stability. At this same time, she begins to befriend a feral cat living in the woods near her new home. Like Zoe, he learned long ago not to trust anyone and to rely upon himself. The story of how the two of them learn to love and trust is heartwarming and insightful. Young readers will be drawn to Zoe's independence and her vulnerability at the same time. I really enjoyed this book. The cast of characters is colorful and unique. I highly recommend this book for young readers.
    • 3/5
      Zoe, eleven and self-sufficient is sent to live with her Uncle Henry after her mother dies. Her mother had not really been much of a mother. Zoe had to fend for herself most of her growing up life. For this reason Zoe is slow to put her trust in people including her uncle. She is so afraid that people will fail her again. Throughout the book Zoe meets many people along the way that she calls friends and eventually realizes they are like family. This includes the wild boy who lives in the woods. She discovers there are many levels of trust. This book is definitely character driven. I would read more by this author.
    • 5/5
      I love this book. Beautiful writing, wonderful story. This is a book that I will remember and think of and recommend to very special readers.
    • 5/5
      Dear Ms. Clay Carmichael: if you're reading this, please consider writing another children's novel, preferably with some of these same characters. Of course, I understand that Wild Things took you five years to complete, and that any hypothetical sequel (or other work - I would accept an unrelated story as well) might conceivably take just as long, but I know it will be worth the wait! Thank you.I cannot recall the last time I encountered a character with as distinctive and winsome a voice as Zoë Royster, the eleven-year-old heroine of Clay Carmichael's middle-grade children's novel, Wild Things. Just as memorable is Mr. C'mere, the feral cat whose own narration is intermingled with Zoë's, and whose observations of human behavior left me shaken - with laughter, with anger, and with sorrow. The following two opening lines, from these two distrustful souls, each of whom has learned to keep the world at a distance:"Humans were diggers and buriers, the cat thought, like dogs.""I'd hoped for better, Henry's being a heart doctor. A job like that, you'd think he might actually have a heart."both grabbed hold of me, dragging me wily-nily into the story, instantly involving me in each narrator's life. I hadn't read more than a few pages, when I knew that here were characters I cared about. By the end of the first chapter, I knew I loved them, and was feverishly racing ahead, hoping for that moment when each - wild things in their different ways - allowed themselves to be, not domesticated, but befriended.This is the story of a precocious young girl who is sent to live with the half-uncle she never knew - an irritable former heart surgeon, and current world-renowned metal sculptor - after the death of her neglectful and mentally ill mother. Having learned by hard experience that adults "don't stick," Zoë is on the look-out for signs that Henry is looking for the exit signs. What she discovers instead, is a kindred spirit - a man who loves books as much as she does, who is as prickly as she is, and who understands her need for time and space of her own. A person who encourages her to be who she is, but also provides companionship, some (minimal) structure, and the protection she needs from some of the dangers of the adult world. In short: she discovers the parent she never knew she wanted.But as much as Wild Things is Zoë's story, it is also the story of Mr. C'mere, an aging cat who has turned his back on human love, after witnessing one too many acts of violence and neglect. A cat who observes the humans around him, with a mixture of puzzlement and perceptive understanding that is by turns amusing and heartbreaking. In short, a cat who is Zoë's feline doppelganger. There are many "wild things" in this story, as it happens, from Zoë and Mr. C'mere, to Henry's sculptures and Henry himself, not to mention Sister and Wil, whose identity - once it was revealed - felt so right to me, that I didn't even mind that I had guessed it, some time before.There are moments of absolute, fall-down-laughing hilarity here - as in the episode in which Mr. C'mere, convinced that the hosing off of the plastic flowers at the graveyard, after he urinates on them, indicates an effort to mark territory, proceeds to urinate on them all the more - and there are moments of stomach-clenching tragedy, from the death of loved ones, to the death of not-so-loved ones. Carmichael's prose is beautifully expressive, whether in girl or feline form, and she has the occasional turn of phrase - Mr. C'mere's description of the newborn orphan Wil, howling in his father's arms, as an "inconsolable noise," Zoë's observation, watching Henry and Fred at a funeral, that "though I didn't hear them exchange twenty words, I understood whole conversations taking place in the silence between them" - that stayed in mind long after I had finished reading.With a feisty heroine who isn't afraid to say what's on her mind, regardless of the audience - "I focused all my energies on giving the Padre's Lord God Almighty, reportedly in Heaven, a piece of my agitated mind" - a cast of fascinating secondary characters, a feline that would win any reasonable person's heart, and many affectionate references to works of children's literature (particularly The Boy Who Drew Cats), Wild Things is a superb story! I am so very grateful to the Children's Fiction Club to which I belong, for making this our December selection, as I might not otherwise have picked it up! Truly, this is a little masterpiece! I'm waiting on Carmichael's next effort with barely restrained impatience...
    • 4/5
      “I’d hoped for better. Henry’s being a heart doctor. A job like that, you’d think he might actually have a heart.” So says eleven-year-old Chloe, our principal narrator. Chloe trusts no one (she has essentially raised herself while her mentally ill mother drifted from boyfriend to boyfriend and ran from bill collectors) and is used to running things her own way. The book opens as she is taken in by an uncle she never knew existed when her mother commits suicide. While the basic plot of Wild Things is formulaic (spunky girl wins over heart of reluctant, crotchety guardian), Carmichael’s wrappings for it are sharp and populated by a whole cast of memorable, odd-ball characters. Of particular note is “Mr. C’mere”, the elderly feral cat Chloe attempts to win over. Very short chapters in the book narrated from Mr. C’mere’s point of view to help tell Chloe’s story.I struggled with an age recommendation for this book. Although Chloe is in 5th grade, her actions and voice are that of a much older character. The more sophisticated the reader, the more enjoyment to be had. Highly recommended!
    • 4/5
      I must say that Wild Things by Clay Carmichael was an unexpected reading pleasure. It is the story of Zoe who is forced to move to Sugar Hill, North Carolina to live with an uncle she has never met, Uncle Henry, after her mother dies. Zoe has been pretty much on her own from a young age as her mother ran through a bunch of boyfriends, hospital stays and the ups and downs of drugs. She is self sufficient and does not need an adult, who she undoubtedly cannot trust, to oversee her life.Zoe has an animal sense about her and senses that a cat is living around Uncle Henry’s house…a cat that nobody noticed before. She bets Uncle Henry $50 that the cat exists…and wins the bet. She spends some time trying to entice the cat (aptly named C’mere) to trust her. Uncle Henry is a cardiologist turned sculptor and spends much of his time in his studio adjoining the house. This leaves plenty of time for Zoe to explore. As she wanders the woods near Uncle Henry’s house, she spies a white doe and tries following it, to avail. It is too fast for her. She stumbles on an old cabin, which she tries to clean up and make her own.The start of school is no joyous event. Although she wasn’t formally schooled, Zoe is a great reader, from which she has absorbed a great deal of knowledge. So school itself and mingling with children her own age, which she had not done, is stressful and at times boring. Especially when Hargrove Peters keeps staring at her in class.Wild Things is a coming of age story about Zoe (and C’mere) learning to trust and coming to love the adults around her. It is beautifully written. It is populated by wonderful characters including Uncle Henry, both rough and tender, his assistant Fred and Fred’s wife Bessie, sources of company, wisdom and love, and Maud who turns out to be Zoe’s grandmother and an avid friend of animals. What caught me at the start was the first chapter was told by C’mere who reminisces about the various previous occupants of the house. Interspersed with Zoe’s story are C’mere’s musing, thoughts and feelings. Wild Things has everything a good book needs…action, great characters, happiness, sadness and wonderful writing. Treat yourself to Wild Things by Clay Carmichael.