Even Fictional Characters Can Have CLAWS

by Debbie Smith

Because I spend a good part of my day reading books and writing reviews, I immediately thought about sharing a book where the character displayed CLAWS, yet still had room for growth. And though there were several good books that I could have chosen, I decided on one of my favorite middle-grade books, A Many Feathered Thing by Lisa Gerlits.

Clara and Orion Will Take You On An Interesting Journey

The Journey Begins

When eleven-year-old Clara, whose full name is Clarity Kartoffel, and her friend Orion break their neighbor's glass gazing ball, it is a bigger problem than you might imagine. Why? Because rumors have been flying around for years about the scary old man who lives at the end of the street. 

Yes, the very man who lives in the house that once was adorned with an intact gazing ball!

What about an artist's life?

Clara is a budding artist who, through research, has decided that most "real" artists live or have lived a tough and tortured life. So even before this horrible gazing ball accident, she'd begun to realize that her present life wasn't indicative of a true artist. 

So what's a non-tortured, budding artist to do?

Why of course she should suffer like a true artist and trudge up the scary walkway to the scary old house and apologize to the frightening old man. She will ask what she can do to make things right.

And she will do this all alone. After all, Orion has asthma and there's no need to overexcite him.

Surely what she is doing will contribute to a tough, tortured life, right? And it's just the right thing to do, anyway.

But what Clara discovers inside old Mr. Vogelman's house completely surprises her and leads her on a new journey. One far from what she could have ever imagined.

What's the deal?

To pay for the broken glass ball Clara and the old, sometimes scary Vogelman strike up an unusual deal. You see, while waiting to apologize, Clara stumbles on the fact that her reclusive neighbor is an artist. They make an arrangement that ends up working for both of them. She can be his helper as he works on his art. He ends up challenging her to throw away her eraser and drawing what she sees, not what she wants to see

Huh? Do you have to be an artist to understand that?.  

. . . and other stuff

As if paying off a broken gazing ball isn't enough, Clara gets paired up on a project with a new girl in her class, and Orion and Clara face a challenge regarding their friendship.

 And The Real Tragedy Comes Crashing Down

Life is always full of opportunities to grow and learn. In this book both Orion and Clara allow you to amble down their eye-opening, wonderful journey that starts with a broken gazing ball and ends with lots of new understanding of people, circumstances, bullying, sadness, and much more.

Question

When you read a book do you search for characters with CLAWS?