(Larger Image)
|
Clay
by David Almond
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (2006-07-25)
ISBN: 038573171X
EAN: 9780385731713
Hardcover: 256 pages
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: 2006-07-25
SKU: 07030267
Condition: New New
Comments: Hardcover. New book. Cover, text and dustjacket all pristine. Book appears never read. Gift quality beautiful book.
|
Editorial Reviews
|
Product Description
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 changes when Stephen Rose comes to town. Father O’Mahoney thinks it would be a good idea for Davie and Geordie to befriend him—maybe some of their good nature will rub off on this unhappy soul. But it’s Stephen who sees something special in Davie.
Stephen’s a gifted sculptor. One day as Davie looks on, Stephen brings a tiny figure to life. It’s a talent he has, the gift of creation—and he knows that Davie has this talent, too. Davie allows Stephen to convince him to help bring a life-size figure to life—and Clay is born. Clay is innocent, but Stephen has special plans for him.
What has Davie helped to unleash on the world?
|
Customer Reviews
|
A fantastic mix of reality and the supernatural.
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-07-30
This is a book you could read in a day - and will want to.
The dialogue is quick, funny, and rich with life and character. The plot progresses at such a fast pace, but is masterful in how it quickly introduces characters that seem like you've known them forever.
The border between real-life and gothic supernatural is walked well by the author, David Almond. What's real, and what's imagined are always a tease to the reader, but in the end, the reader is left with some very compelling issues to ponder: religion, creation, art, death, violence, conformity.
Almond provides a deep reminder that evil lurks in the world, and always will, but the greatest battle of all is to conquer the demons inside oneself.
With an ending that's not quite an ending (in the proper sense of the word), but satisfying nonetheless, I would recommend this whole-heartedly. A fantastic read!
|
|
Creepy Good Fun
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-02-02
This book is so different from anything I have been reading lately. A new weird boy in town introduces Davie to his strange talent - he makes clay come to life. So they create a clay man and...I'm not going to tell you the rest but it's creepy and good. The story is supposed to make you think about the choices we make and good vs. evil and even God. Even if you don't want to think about it on that level, this is one goooood tale.
|
|
Frankenstein Goes Clay-mation
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-12-14
Here's an odd book -- YA, but more rightly coined a book about teens for adults -- that will certainly NOT appeal to reluctant readers. In fact, David Almond's CLAY features Northern England dialect and themes about good and evil that are a challenge for readers, and even though it is said that girls will read books written for boys (though the opposite is not true), I wonder how many girls would actually read and enjoy this.
One creepy read, CLAY follows the rough-and-tumble adventures of protagonist Davie (13) and his best pal Geordie, two altar boys in it for the tips who scrap with Protestant boys now and again, avoiding all the while the hulking and dangerous Protestant presence of one Martin Mouldy.
Enter the dragon in the form of Stephen Rose (from who knows where). Stephen's father is dead (by accident?), his mother mad (by design?), and he's sent to be brought up by the village madwomen herself, Crazy Mary. Stephen Rose has a talent for sculpting "men" out of clay, and he's about to breath one to life, but needs Davie to help pull it off. Davie (the good angel) and Stephen (the bad) become the "Masters" of Clay, a creature that echoes both his creators specifically and mankind in general, being a creature of both great promise and greater disappointment. When a murder occurs after the monster's afoot, the novel takes on a life of its own. Hypnotism? Dreams? Madness? Reality? The lines are deliberately blurred as Clay repeatedly wanders the landsccape and asks commands of its terrified master, Davie.
As an adult reader, I was intrigued by this book. I wouldn't buy it for my 8th-grade classroom library, though, because I don't believe it would fly. I pull a star for two reasons -- Almond gets over-the-top melodramatic with Stephen's character at the climax, and some characters (especially Davie's romantic interest, Maria) seem "thrown in" and go nowhere after the promise of going somewhere (always an annoyance to readers). If you're a fan of dead men walking, however, I suggest giving it a try.
|
|
If Things Don't Get Out of Hand
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-03-06
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Winning of the Printz Award for his young adult novel KIT'S WILDERNESS and nominated for the Printz with his first novel SKELLIG, David Almond has delivered CLAY, another quality story that has made the ALA's 2007 Best Books for Young Adults list.
"The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." ~ Genesis 2:7
Thirteen-year-old Davie and Geordie serve as altar boys under the tutelage of Father O'Mahoney, receiving tips for grieving at funerals and help out wherever needed at the masses. Like all good altar boys, they crave adventure and live in fear of the town bully. Noticing this and trying to stretch their souls to a little goodness, O'Mahoney challenges them to befriend the weirdest kid in their English countryside town. "He just needs a few mates." "From the very start, he had a good heart."
If one were looking, Stephen Rose could be found in the garden staring at the moon. Howling in the shed. Carrying lumps of clay around in the graveyard. He lives with Crazy Mary because his mother is crackers, his father's dead, and his granddad's wild. Which might not be nowt serious if that's all it was. But there are the rumors too. Black Masses. Upside-down crosses. Black candles. The "Our Father" backwards. Dark things in dark places.
"There but for the grace of God..."
As David and Geordie get to know Stephen, they quickly learn that dust and wood isn't enough for Stephen to do the Lord's work--Stephen needs clay. He has the amazing gift of sculpting, the ability to turn common mud into astounding images. He sees art in the clay. He sees life there. Ever since the angel visited him, he says he's longed to do something special with his life, to rise above the ordinary and create something lasting, something people will remember him for. Which might end up a noble enough cause, if things don't get out of hand.
-- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens
Copyright 1997-2007, Teenreads.com. All rights reserved.
|
|
Clay
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-03-02
Clay, in my option is a fantastic book, because with not only with orgional ideas, but also interesting characters, which mak eyou feel you can relate to and understand, and you really get into the story. I would reccomend it, as not only is it very entertaining , as a good book should be, but also very well writen, and not only technically well writed, but also well writen in the sence that it is it makes people want to read it!
|
|
|