≡ Download Tell the Wolves I'm Home Carol Rifka Brunt 9780679644194 Books

Tell the Wolves I'm Home Carol Rifka Brunt 9780679644194 Books

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Tell the Wolves I'm Home Carol Rifka Brunt 9780679644194 Books

June: Protagonist and told from her point-of-view is a teenager in the mid-eighties. She struggles to understand her relationship with her gay uncle, who is slowly dying from AIDS. He is her godfather and the apple of his eye. She is confused about her feelings toward him and whether they are even healthy or normal. They both present a unity that is so magnetic that they can basically communicate without saying a word.

Greta: June's older sister feels that her uncle, Finn, takes away from the closeness that she and her sister once had. Instead of voicing this, she lets her jealousy boil under the surface and it comes across as resentful, detestable, and detached. She feels pressure from her mother to be the perfect child. Without anyone to lean on, she is falling apart and develops a nasty alcohol habit.

Finn: Although he isn't alive through most of this novel, he plays a huge role throughout the entire book. It is basically everyone's relationship with Finn that develops the story.

Toby: Is Finn's partner of 9 years until Finn's death. June doesn't even know that he exists purely because her mother is jealous of him as she believes that if it weren't for him that she would still be close with her brother. Toby is the one who gets blamed for so much when he is just trying to get by day-to-day. Although he presents himself as nothing much in life, I find him to be one of the most compelling characters. He takes the brunt of Finn's family issues with AIDS, purely because of his love for Finn. I feel that he is so endearing and treats June with so much love and tenderness and always offering support that he nestled his way into my heart.

When June's uncle Finn dies, she learns of Toby's existence. Finn left a note for her to take care of Toby and also told Toby to care for June. Although, at times, June is jealous of Toby's relationship with her uncle she has to learn to accept things the way that they are. They also discover how their time together has slowly helped them through their grieving process. June also discovers that although she had never met Toby before, she really had a connection with him after all and didn't even no it at the time.

The title of the book is based on a portrait that Finn painted of June and Greta. As time goes by, just about everyone adds a little something to the painting, and I truly think Finn would have liked it that way since he wanted to portray everyone to their core and not superficially.

This is basically a story about jealousy, grief, and overcoming deep wounds to see what is really below the strong emotions. It is also a story about healing and forgiveness. I don't know if it is because I would basically be the same age as June in the 80's, but I really connected to June's character.

The characters of this novel are wonderfully developed and I felt as though I knew each character individually and could list off every individual idiosyncrasy of their personalities. I was deeply touched by this book and would say that it is definitely one of my favorites.


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Tell the Wolves I'm Home Carol Rifka Brunt 9780679644194 Books Reviews

This is a charming book in a very young adult novel kind of way. It’s a very easy and quick read, character driven, and a nice balance of angst and growth.

This novel is a story told by fifteen-year-old June in the 1980s, where the death of a beloved uncle from AIDS sends her on a life-changing, soul-searching journey.

There are so many reasons why this should have been classified as young adult. The narrator is only fifteen, with distinctly youthful language and adolescent thought processes. She finds herself grappling with tough life issues without parental help (so typical in YA novels) because her accountant parents are in the middle of tax season, and her life has led her to be estranged from her older sister as well. She struggles with self-esteem and other typical coming-of-age problems like boys, self-identification, and fitting in. Plus, like most YA books, there’s this certainty while reading that everything is going to work out in the end, that the narrator will lose some innocence but gain some wisdom. This let’s us feel safe in following the main characters twists and turns. It’s all just so typical of every other young adult novel, I don’t understand why it isn’t classified as such.

The language and themes are good. Not great, but good. Rarely was I ever taken out of the book, but rarely did I re-read a passage for its beauty either. There’s a nice level of complexity to the characters, but it has its fair share of coincidences, along with a feel that the characters make choices that no one would actually make but which turn out all right in the end. The ending was rather hard to swallow but fit well with the rest of the book.

One of my favorite quotes from the book “If you think a story can be like a kind of cement, the sloppy kind that you put between bricks, the kind that looks like cake frosting before it dries hard, then maybe I thought it would be possible to use what Toby had to hold Finn together, to keep him here with me a little bit longer” (pg. 78).

Young adult literature can still be excellent reading, and this book is like that. If you looking for a light read, do grab this.

While I have included discussion questions, I found that my questions felt rather simple. Unless you have a book club geared to young readers or you attend a book club that likes to drink a lot of wine, I would pass on this book for most discussion groups.
June Protagonist and told from her point-of-view is a teenager in the mid-eighties. She struggles to understand her relationship with her gay uncle, who is slowly dying from AIDS. He is her godfather and the apple of his eye. She is confused about her feelings toward him and whether they are even healthy or normal. They both present a unity that is so magnetic that they can basically communicate without saying a word.

Greta June's older sister feels that her uncle, Finn, takes away from the closeness that she and her sister once had. Instead of voicing this, she lets her jealousy boil under the surface and it comes across as resentful, detestable, and detached. She feels pressure from her mother to be the perfect child. Without anyone to lean on, she is falling apart and develops a nasty alcohol habit.

Finn Although he isn't alive through most of this novel, he plays a huge role throughout the entire book. It is basically everyone's relationship with Finn that develops the story.

Toby Is Finn's partner of 9 years until Finn's death. June doesn't even know that he exists purely because her mother is jealous of him as she believes that if it weren't for him that she would still be close with her brother. Toby is the one who gets blamed for so much when he is just trying to get by day-to-day. Although he presents himself as nothing much in life, I find him to be one of the most compelling characters. He takes the brunt of Finn's family issues with AIDS, purely because of his love for Finn. I feel that he is so endearing and treats June with so much love and tenderness and always offering support that he nestled his way into my heart.

When June's uncle Finn dies, she learns of Toby's existence. Finn left a note for her to take care of Toby and also told Toby to care for June. Although, at times, June is jealous of Toby's relationship with her uncle she has to learn to accept things the way that they are. They also discover how their time together has slowly helped them through their grieving process. June also discovers that although she had never met Toby before, she really had a connection with him after all and didn't even no it at the time.

The title of the book is based on a portrait that Finn painted of June and Greta. As time goes by, just about everyone adds a little something to the painting, and I truly think Finn would have liked it that way since he wanted to portray everyone to their core and not superficially.

This is basically a story about jealousy, grief, and overcoming deep wounds to see what is really below the strong emotions. It is also a story about healing and forgiveness. I don't know if it is because I would basically be the same age as June in the 80's, but I really connected to June's character.

The characters of this novel are wonderfully developed and I felt as though I knew each character individually and could list off every individual idiosyncrasy of their personalities. I was deeply touched by this book and would say that it is definitely one of my favorites.