Come to hear Clay Carmichael read from her new book Wild Things and you may win a book-themed cat sculpture by NC artist Mike Roig.

Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, NC, Saturday May 9th, 3 p.m.

Great turnout. The above free sculpture went to good home.

Congratulations S. Strauss!

The Regulator Bookshop, Durham, NC, Tuesday May 19th, 7 p.m.

Stray Cats, above, has a new home with Janice Dareff,

who "never wins anything".  Congratulations, Janice!

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"Wonderfully written with contrasting points of view from the cat and Zoë, the core of the novel is the family you're born with can let you down. But the families we create can be unbreakable.. —Angela Nolet, Children’s Librarian, You Choose the Next Newbery, King County Library System, Redmond WA.

More about Wild Things

Early Reviews for Wild Things

*Starred Review* "Zoë Royster, peer to the literary heroines she so loves, is as memorable in her own way as The Great Gilly Hopkins, Opal Buloni and Anne Shirley." — Kirkus

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"Zoë’s first-person narration
alternates with the observations of a feral tomcat who provides hints to the past, and an array of well-drawn eccentric characters add additional sparkle to the magic-touched story. Zoë’s fierce, funny voice is compelling, whether she is describing tense standoffs or moments of rare vulnerability that go straight to the heart."—Booklist

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"It's hard to resist the voice of 11-year-old narrator Zoë, who stars in Carmichael's swiftly-paced first novel, alongside a supporting cast of eccentric characters nearly as wild as she."

—Shelf Awareness

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"Every single one of you should read this book. Really, young or old, I want you to read this and then tell me how far in love with the characters you fell. I was enchanted with the story, loving the characters, and so sad when it ended...yet happy. A beautifully written book, screaming out for readers."

—A Patchwork of Books

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"[A] good book. It reminds me of Katherine Paterson's The Great Gilly Hopkins."—KaaVonia Hinton, co-author of Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation and Appreciation (Prentice Hall, 2009)