Claws [Paperback]

Dan Greenburg (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

When Cody is 14, he runs away from home, leaving behind his abusive mother, and flees across the country. He doesn’t stop until he hits Texas and the Sam Houston Tiger Ranch. Under the guidance of Sunny, the ranch’s owner, he cares for the animals in ways he never imagined. He feeds them a diet of raw, bloody meat. He cleans out their cages. He takes them for exercise. He finds out how to get a tiger to back down, and when he should back down himself. But there is another lesson Cody has to learn—sometimes people are harder to handle than tigers.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–Cody, 14, is 6 feet tall and passes for 16. His appearance has eased his flight from an abusive mother in New York City and made it possible for him to find minimum-wage jobs. He hopes for something better and more interesting when he hires on at the Sam Houston Tiger Ranch in central Texas. Dealing closely with the daily needs of big cats, he finds that his boss and coworkers are a colorful bunch, including ranch co-owner Sunny. Her brother and partner, Wayland, has recently disappeared and is presumed dead. The heart of the story is Cody's learning the ropes and beginning to feel a sense of home. A touching subplot involves an eight-year-old neighbor with a bad stutter whom Cody draws out of his shyness, and the violence of a summer tornado is a tense counterpoint to Cody's well-earned happiness. The other subplots, concerning Wayland and the accusation that Sunny murdered him, as well as Cody's worries that his mother, a noted television child psychologist, might find him, add unnecessary and not terribly convincing clutter to the story. Despite these caveats, however, Claws is a swiftly moving and sympathetic tale of a teen who wants to find a place for himself.–Coop Renner, Hillside Elementary, El Paso, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. Since leaving New York, 14-year-old runaway Cody has traveled all over, trying to escape his abusive mother, who is determined to find him and bring him back. Working at a tiger ranch in Texas seems safe but has its own dangers. There are the tigers, of course, but there's also the mystery surrounding the ranch owner's missing brother. This fast-moving read offers suspense, adventure, and a sympathetic protagonist, who eventually develops the confidence and courage to stand up to both tigers and his ferocious parent. The ending is pat; supporting characters are typecast (Cody's mother is very Mommie Dearest); and the final confrontation between Cody and Mother is somewhat anticlimactic. But readers will root for the tough kid who overcomes fear and adversity, and the abundant details about caring for tigers, while not for those with weak stomachs, will intrigue fans of animal stories. Greenburg describes his own experiences at a tiger ranch in an author's note. Shelle Rosenfeld
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (May 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375834117
• ISBN-13: 978-0375834110
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.5 x 7.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,077,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dan Greenburg has known success as a humorist, a novelist, a journalist, a screenwriter, and a playwright. Now he has turned his considerable talent to writing an original new series of books for a younger audience. Inspired by his own son Zack, for whom the hero of his new series, The Zack Files, is named, Greenburg has combined his love of humor, his interest in things paranormal, and his talent for writing to create books that kids like Zack will want to read. With 18 books to his credit, Dan Greenburg's work has been translated into 19 languages and is available in 22 countries. His best-selling titles for adults include How to Be a Jewish Mother, How to Make Yourself Miserable, Scoring, Love Kills, How to Avoid Love and Marriage and Exes. His previous books for children include Young Santa, The Bed Who Ran Away From Home, Jumbo the Boy and Arnold the Elephant. His articles have appeared in the New Yorker, Esquire, Ms., Time, Newsweek, Life, New York magazine, Cosmopolitan, the New York Times Book Review, Vanity Fair, Playboy, and have been reprinted in 33 anthologies of humor and satire in the United States and England. Born and raised in Chicago, Dan Greenburg received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Illinois, and his M.A. from UCLA. He is the father of Zack, a teenage son, who played the title role in the motion picture, LORENZO'S OIL, and served as the inspiration for The Zack Files. Mr. Greenburg lives in Westchester County, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Claw your way into this story!, December 14, 2009

By 

Dorothy G. Scanlan "YA librarian" (Westminster, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Claws (Paperback)

I recommend this book, especially to middle school boys. Cody is a runaway, but for good reasons. He ends up, after a series of jobs which take him across the country, in Texas working at the Sam Houston Tiger Ranch. The ranch is a shelter for abused and unwanted big cats, primarily tigers. Because the author bases the core of the story on his own experiences working with tigers, Cody's experiences ring true. Having worked with cheetahs myself, I can say this with authority! One reviewer wrote that the story is "not for those with weak stomachs." I disagree. Caring for animals involves feeding them what they need as well as cleaning up after them. It's not gross; it's just the way it is. The subplots do not interfere with the main storyline; they do add some intrigue. Cody is a likable, realistic teen who you will root for the whole way.