Zoe is just 11 years old, but she's had to take care of herself most of her life because her father is dead and her mother is mentally ill. When her mother commits suicide, Zoe is sent to live with her artist/doctor Uncle Henry. There she becomes involved with lots of fellow wild things: an old tomcat (who is also like a co-narrator; there are several chapters told from his perspective), a mysterious figure from the woods, a white deer, a couple of feisty old ladies, and Henry himself.

There are lots of stories about willful, intelligent kids who, through the course of a book's events, learn to love and let themselves be loved. Wild Things is a nice contribution to this genre. I liked it a lot, though it was a little clunky in places and didn't completely satisfy me. My frustration was that parts of the book were truly witty and inspired, which only highlighted the lameness of its weaker aspects (mostly I think the author had too many balls in the air, too many of mom's boyfriends, too many plot lines to wrap up, too many unlikely coincidences).

Still, overall, really enjoyable book, great characters, both funny and poignant. ( )

I very much enjoyed this book which focused on a spunky, very much impacted by issues of abandonment and mental health of her parents young adult girl.

Zoe was accustomed to forging ahead by her self. Since early years, her mother left her alone. When her mother committed suicide, she then lived with an Uncle she never knew. Her took her to live with him and very stable, warm and caring friends.
Henry was the first stable person she had in her life. Not accustomed to love, accountable to others, and waiting at any minute to be abandoned at any point, Zoe wants very much to trust Henry, his assisstant Franklin, and Franklin's wife Bessie.

This is a warm, fuzzy book that focuses more on Zoe's travels to stability than her previous life of abandoment and unstability.

While it may sound too good to be true, Henry is a very stable person. A previous cardiologist, he left that behind to become quite a talented artist.

There are twists and turns as strong-willed Zoe finds an abandoned shack in the woods surrounding Henry's house, and claims it as her own. In addition, she discovers an abandoned, ferel cat that she gradually cultivates safety and he then follows her and becomes her pet. This part of the book is very precious. ( )

I loved this book. In many ways it's like so many other orphan stories that I'm not sure exactly what made me love it so much - I guess it was the characters, and the fact that it sounded like a place I wouldn't mind visiting and hanging out with the people for a while. There are some weird unwritten rules that happen in rural places, and I think this story brought a lot of that extremely small town culture to life. ( )

I really enjoyed this book, and was hoping there was a sequel. Clay has another book, and it has dogs instead of a cat... but I was hoping for more about Zoey, WIll and Henry....

2 ILL no CC - read by Children's Book group before I was involved.