Tell The Wolves I'm Home is the debut novel of American writer Carol Rifka Brunt,[1] published by Random House in 2012.
[2][3] Throughout this friendship June finds comfort in knowing that her uncle, a man who inspired the love of so many, is mourned not only by the family and his partner but by the art community.
The novel chronicles June's journey as she mourns her uncle Finn's death amid the 1980s AIDS epidemic, a time when the disease was relatively unknown.
Being a professional painter, he asks June and her elder sister Greta to sit for a portrait, which he completes a few days before his death.
When it is returned to the Elbuses, June notices that although Toby's, Greta's and her additions were removed, her mother's necklace and ring have been left untouched.
Originally wanting to shield June from the truth about Finn's lifestyle and death, her family does not mention the partner he left behind until he appears briefly at his funeral service.
"He's the guy who killed Uncle Finn"[4] is the way in which Greta singles out Toby at the funeral parlor, a moment that illustrates the way in which the Elbus family and the general public at the time viewed gay men and a disease that seemed to only affect them.
White House officials would answer few questions on the subject and in the off chance that they did would respond to the disease as something that the gay community may deserve for engaging in a lifestyle not agreed upon by many.
Throughout the novel it seemed, especially during the final days of Finn's life, that the family blamed his sexual orientation for his declining health and ultimately his death.
These opinions within the family made it extremely difficult for June to agree to meeting Toby, since the relationship he had with her uncle was the cause of his death.
The way in which Toby was accepted not only by June but also by Greta before his death represented the way in which the gay community would finally achieve (after protests and a constant fight for equal rights) the governments cooperation in funding research to find a cure for the epidemic.
Brunt says the inspiration for Tell The Wolves I'm Home came from an idea of "a dying uncle painting a final portrait of his niece".
[5] Publishers Weekly noted that Tell the Wolves I'm Home "has young adult–novel qualities, with moral conflicts that resolve themselves too easily and characters nursing hearts of gold.
[5] Tell The Wolves I'm Home was presented the Alex Award in 2013 by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).
[7] Sam Sacks of The Wall Street Journal called it a "tremendously moving debut novel [that imbues] June with the disarming candor of a child and the melancholy wisdom of a heart-scarred adult.
"[8] Writing for Paste, Carla Jean Whitley gave it an 8 out of a possible 10, calling it an "immensely satisfying tale ... offer[ing] insight into the complicated web of human emotions.