Tell the Wolves I'm Home (Carol Rifka Blunt)

      
  A story set in the 80's. A girl, our protagonist, June Elbus, 14 years old reflects on the life of her and her uncle, Finn who died of Aids. Her mother has some issues with her brothers lifestyle and practically forbids June to have anything to do with Finns boyfriend, Toby who in inherited the apartment after his death. June, we find out, has an extreme fondness for her uncle and then for his boyfriend Toby and we witness the whole entanglement that follows.

Finn is an artist and the last painting he created was of June and her older sister Greta. The painting is valuable but June and her sister have each taken to adding their own touches on it. They were given keys to the safety deposit box. 

I'm finding it hard to review this book because it was really good yet there isn't this one way of summarizing it. We see the conflict between the two sisters as Greta seems jealous of June and Finns relationship.  June's mother has a bit of her issue with her brother being an artist as she was also quite talented but chose to settle down with a husband and have kids and become an accountant instead. The author does a great job of the inner world of June and how a 14 year old- who is going through the regular growing pains of being a teenager- but to layer on dealing with the implications of Aids, when it first was introduced and how scary it was then- was done with honesty and talent.  

THere weren't any fireworks in this story. It wasn't suspenseful although it was a little sad at the end but quite predictable. Still, I enjoyed it and look forward to more of her writing. 

It's a coming of age tale set in New York about families and illness and choices and regrets.