All the Buttons pressed - Rated 
Cant believe how unsettling i found this book. Best book ive read in years. I know its marketed as a kids book, but im 42 and it managed to press all the buttons more than any other book ive read in the last few years. Its so successful because it manages to say things simply, quickly, but profoundly. If only most adult fiction could do that.......
Beautiful and Real - Rated
I loved this book. I've just finished reading it as a teacher who is sharing it with a group of 12year olds. They're loving it too. Main themes; life/death and reality/fantasy and the interplay between these. I thought it was gorgeously written and had elements of Steinbeck woven into the descriptions of nature that David Almond writes so well. It is a frightening book in some ways but also one which deals with the reality of childhood in ways which some writers are afraid to approach. I loved the understated beginnings and complications of first love surrounding both davie and stephen's individual stories. Wonderful. Wish I'd written it!
Strange - Rated 
Having read 'Skellig' and other novels by David Almond, I was certainly excited by the prospect of another. However, I found 'Clay' to be very strange, unpredictable (some, though, would say this was a good thing) and very different to what he has written before.
Where before his novels have succeeded in enrapturing me, I found 'Clay' a little dull, and a little too strange to really feel drawn into. I found it difficult to associate with many of the characters, although Davie was quite a strong one.
I do feel the need to congratulate the author for writing this bold novel, and I am sure many people will really enjoy it. It's just a matter of taste!
Courtesy of Teens Read Too - Rated 
"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. He and Geordie are not friends anymore, he's stealing from his church, the girl he loves thinks he's crazy, and he and Stephen Rose are making a life-size monster--and it makes absolutely no sense at all.
When this brilliant idea of bringing something to life turns into a total meltdown and starts to kill someone, Davie has no choice but the obvious. What will he do, or what can he do?
This is a great book that I think explores the unknown imagination. It is a well-written story that has exciting detail in each chapter.
Reviewed by: Holly
Weird, gripping stuff - Rated
I read this for the Carnegie shadowing and found it to be excellent. This book can be interpreted in lots of different ways, and I think that it is people's interpretations of this that determines whether or not you like it. I personally think that it should have won the Carnegie medal because it is so original and gripping.
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