I’ll be honest, I found this book just ok. Much preferred the follow-up, Never Coming Back.

I read this many years ago when it first came out and just re-read it this weekend. I love coming-of-age stories told from a child's point of view, and this book was no exception. Clara is kind of an oddball with lots of repetitive thoughts, so I wonder if she is mildly autistic or just quite precocious. She makes up stories to fill in gaps for missing details in her life and befriends an elderly man. I found the writing lyrical and authentic for this young girl. Will look for more books from Alison McGhee!

Loved this book. Full of imagination and exquisite story telling where you aren't sure what Clara feels, does and says are real or parts of her own narrative.

Wow, I really zipped through this one, such a wonderful story with well developed characters. I loved how Clara was different without being labeled as such.

Loved this story about a young girl trying to figure out where she fits in and her friendship with a elderly neighbor, Georg Kaminsky, an immigrant. A great coming of age story.

After I started reading this I realized it was the same author who wrote a book called Never Coming Back. Shadow Baby had been written several years before and chronicled the life of the character in Never Coming Back as a little girl, Clare, in Shadow Baby. Very precocious child,strange even, a lot of that having to do with her mother. Clare found it easier to make up things rather than facing the truth, and had an obsession with words and their meanings

An excellent recommendation from a friend! Clara winter (yes, she likes the lower case W) is 11 and longs to know the story of her life including more about her father, her grandfather and a dead baby sister. She loves words and writing and uses stories as a way to escape realities and create a world she hopes would be true. She befriends an old metalworker and their friendship teaches her about live, loss and growing up. The story takes place in the southern hills of the Adirondacks near my home, so it was neat to see local landmarks and roads refered to and play such an important role in the setting.

I liked this book very much. I usually do enjoy books written in the voice of a child (and/or juvenile), I just can't help myself.
This book was particularly well written, this child (Clara, 11 years old) reminded me of my own child (Cleveland, 8 years old) although some of the things about her were hard to believe (do 11 year old's really think and talk in such adult terms?) Some do.
Throughout the book, the reader is kept going and curious about the "missing" information concerning family and circumstances and thank goodness, the author was kind enough to explain it in the end.
I can appreciate struggle and tradgedy, but I hate the tragic sadness of this book.
There are beautiful quotes and sentences to stop and re-read, think about, and to share and discuss with others.
Very good book. Enjoy it!

A beautiful story of an unexpected friendship between a peculiar girl and a introverted old man.

One of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read.

Clara winter (she prefers her last named pronounced with a lower case w) is a delightful character who managed to make me pause and reflect, laugh out loud, grieve, and explore her world with wonder. I loved her delight with words, sentences, books, and dictionaries. Her journey to devloping a strong relationship with an elderly immigrant while feeling distanced from her own mother is a testament to her tenacity. This coming of age book is the perfect way to launch my summer reading. I loved it.

This is an odd book, and it's so different, I'm really not sure how to review it. I have thought about it a bit since I finished it, which means the story hit something in me, but i can't pinpoint it, and I'm not certain it was worth the slow road it took to get there.

On a lighter note, this is the first book I've dropped in the bathtub as an adult. Hope the library will accept its wrinkly self!