A friend gave us a pile of mystery novels, and this book, which is about a teenage girl whose beloved uncle dies of AIDS -- set in 1987, it seems pretty accurate to the time. Told in the voice of the teenager, it is heartbreaking much of the time, but with a fairly heartwarming ending. This seems like the kind of story that is so unlikely, it must be based on actual events. I am grateful to the author for adding to the literature of that period of AIDS from a different perspective than I've seen before, Imagine if Darlene from "Roseanne" had had a favourite uncle who died of AIDS. Imagine that 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.This 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.
Do You like book Tell The Wolves I'm Home (2012)?
It hooked me! Finished it in less than a week...
—Mary90
Really enjoyed this book! Couldn't put it down.
—ron_bailey_1
