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robforteath 's review for:
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
by Carol Rifka Brunt
June (essentially Darlene from "Roseanne") had a favourite uncle who died of AIDS -- and he had been not only her favourite uncle but also the only person around whom she let down her guard, the only person she felt understood by and loved by.
The book explores how people choose someone to be the one who needs them, and in the process neglect and hurt the others in their lives who also need and love them. June is completely infatuated with everything to do with her uncle, even after he is dead, while being hypersensitive to signs of rejection and judgment from everyone else -- who are in turn hurt by her defensiveness.
And so on.
Where the book excels is in its realistic portrayal of high-school students' behaviour, alternate clear-sightedness and cluelessness, attitudes, language, etc. It nails the parts of June and her popular older sister.
The plot moves along well enough, even while the theme is chewed and rechewed like cud. The tension that will be resolved in the end becomes clear with a large number of chapters remaining, and the ending is never really in any doubt. But somehow, it works. Three stars seem too few for this book, but four is too many.
The book explores how people choose someone to be the one who needs them, and in the process neglect and hurt the others in their lives who also need and love them. June is completely infatuated with everything to do with her uncle, even after he is dead, while being hypersensitive to signs of rejection and judgment from everyone else -- who are in turn hurt by her defensiveness.
And so on.
Where the book excels is in its realistic portrayal of high-school students' behaviour, alternate clear-sightedness and cluelessness, attitudes, language, etc. It nails the parts of June and her popular older sister.
The plot moves along well enough, even while the theme is chewed and rechewed like cud. The tension that will be resolved in the end becomes clear with a large number of chapters remaining, and the ending is never really in any doubt. But somehow, it works. Three stars seem too few for this book, but four is too many.