Tell the Wolves I'm Home

In the mid-1980s, 14-year-old Junie's beloved uncle Finn is the latest casualty of the AIDS epidemic. Finn, a prominent artist, introduced Junie to classical music and spent long Sundays taking her for outings and sharing secrets with her. With Finn gone, Junie soon learns her uncle also kept secrets from her, like his boyfriend, Toby, whom Junie's family blames for Finn's disease.

Bereft and lonely, Junie receives a message from Toby suggesting they meet--she's the only person who misses Finn as much as he does. At first, Junie is suspicious of the man her mother claims as good as murdered her uncle, not to mention jealous of his bond with Finn. However, she has no one to confide in--not her busy parents, and certainly not her older sister Greta, who has begun subtly vandalizing Finn's final painting, a portrait of the sisters entitled Tell the Wolves I'm Home.

The two strike up a friendship as heartwarming and poignant as it is unconventional and, at times, awkward. Rather than the monster she imagined, Junie finds Toby a gentle, hapless fellow, lost without Finn. Junie begins to unlock the missing pieces of her uncle's life, from his love for Toby to the root of the rift between him and Junie's mother. However, the friendship grows bittersweet when Junie realizes that Toby is also dying of AIDS.

Filled with lost opportunities and second chances, Tell the Wolves I'm Home delivers wisdom, innocence and originality with surprising sweetness. Its cast of waifs and strays will steal your heart as they show each other the way to redemption. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger, Infinite Reads

Powered by: Xtenit