Claws

by Will Weaver

Book Overview

"It's not the big, tragic things in life that do you in-" For Jed Berg, life is good: He's landed a major girlfriend, made number onesingles in varsity tennis, and his father lets him drive his 1969... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060094737
• ISBN13: 9780060094737
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: HarperTempest
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 10 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 9

Customer Reviews

Claws

A young boys life comes crashing down when he meets "Gurtrude" a punk girl with pink hair. She tells him a secret about his family life that makes his perfect world come crumbling down. With a surprising, and slightly depressing ending this story will leave you with an aching heart. Very touching.

Book Review

What is the perfect life? Jed Berg is a proud owner of that life. Doing well in junior high, has a senior girlfriend, and the top singles in varsity tennis. His friends are in complete envy. Jed's strong relationship with his parents is what his friends' wish they had for themselves. Jed ends up meeting this punk girl who is accusing his father of having an affair with her mother. Several e-mails force Jed to confront his father. Little does he know that this is only the start of the lined-up dominoes set to tip each other over. I recommend this book towards everyone. This book is more pointed towards fiction novel readers but it is also a great change in reading style. This book integrates real life problems, possibilities and one of the worst life disasters possible.

Jed's Claws

This book was excellent. It was about a guy named Jed. His life was perfect. He had a girlfrend, a killer car, a perfect family... What more could a guy ask for? But then he gets this note from someone and his life tumbles downstairs. At first he doesn't believe it but when he gets proof that his dad was having an affair, it messed up everything. He meets this person who gave him the note and he ends up falling in love with her. I was guessing about the ending all the way through the book and I STILL didn't find out the right ending. This book was really addicting and it shows you how even "perfect" people's lives can be ruined. When I first picked it up, I thought it would just be okay. When I put it down after I finished it, I thought it was brilliant.

best book ever!

this was the BEST book i have read in a long time!! it is sooo good. i laughed, and i cried my eyes out. this is definantly a GREAT book!! it is about a guy who has a perfect life..... or so he thinks. i recomend this book highly!!

Richie's Picks: CLAWS

"When life looks like Easy Street, there is danger at your door."--Grateful Dead "Life will sooner or later show its claws."--Anton Chekhov Jed Berg is feeling pretty good about life: "Say you're finally sixteen and things are coming together. In the space of six months you got your driver's license, grew sideburns, landed a major girlfriend, made number one singles in varsity tennis. Like pieces of a puzzle--a bird, a cloud, blue sky, yellow sun--things are falling into place." Jed even feels good about his parents, who have successful careers and who--unlike many other kids he knows--are actually together. "In fact, your friends admire both your parents. They don't mind hanging out at your house because your father (an architect) jokes with them, which means he takes them seriously, and your mother (an attorney) bakes them ginger cookies and chocolate bars. Even [your girlfriend] Cassie says, 'You've got the coolest parents.' " But then there arrives the mysterious note for Jed requesting a meeting at a restaurant--a busy teen hangout: "She stared at me. Bright-pink hair above heavy black eye shadow plus enough metal in her nose to make airport detectors beep at fifty yards. Dark, gothy clothes." This young stranger's message for Jed: "Your father is sleeping with my mother." "All your children are poor unfortunate victims of lies you believe A plague upon your ignorance that keeps the young from the truth they deserve..."--Frank Zappa CLAWS is a harrowing tale of what can happen to children because of their parents' behavior. What occurs as a result of this revelation is a story of two families caught in a downward spiral with the kids in the middle. My fascination with what will happen next to Jed and the pink-haired punk chick kept me white-knuckled and up late until the story reached its conclusion. Set near Duluth, Minnesota, the book's cover photo of a canoe cutting through a time-lapse blur of trees, water, and sky provides a perfect complement to the out-of-control events that lie within. " 'Well, back to work,' my father said to me. His voice sounded odd, but maybe it was my ears shutting down. Like the rest of me. I pretended to yawn." 'Maybe I will take a little paddle in the canoe,' I said. 'I'm getting the drift of things here.'" 'Sure, Jeddy, fine,' he said quickly. 'Go ahead. And take your time, son.'"Son. God I hated this day."I headed down to the canoe. He didn't even remind me to wear a life jacket." CLAWS rips apart Jed Berg's notion of his perfect life. And CLAWS sure as heck grabbed me. Richie Partington