Stavros, Peter J. The Thing About My Uncle. BHC Press, 2024.
Reason read: Occasionally I am asked to review books for LibraryThing’s very cool Early Review program. This is one such book.
I don’t know as if I believe the fourteen year old narrator. What kid uses the words forthwith or flummoxed or nary? Sometimes Rhett is an adult looking back and sometimes he is a teenager in the here and now. In the beginning I was put off by the tired-seeming plot: teenage kid always in trouble (but secretly a good, albeit misunderstood, kid). You know the kind who desperately need straightening out, but really don’t. Mom is at her wits end so sends said kid (Rhett) to a gruff, tattooed, loner family member who has mysteries of his own. He lives disconnected from society with barely any internet or television to entertain a teenager. Only there is no mystery to Uncle Theo. What you see is what you get. Three nights in a row he serves up wild “game” his hunting buddies gave him in exchange for “produce” from his extensive garden. Don’t go into the garden; do not go into the garden Uncle Theo tells Rhett. Gee, I wonder what Theo is growing? As a book for young adults, I suspect the plot will be just as transparent for them as well. You know that Theo’s secrets are going to be revealed in a dramatic way. You know Rhett is going to love being in the country. What you don’t know is how they will get from point A to point B. Well worth the read.
My only complaint: Rhett goes on and on about his mom’s famous tuna melt dinner. When Rhett wants to surprise his uncle with this meal a whole drama unfolds but Rhett still manages to make the dish…and in the end nothing is said about it. Yes, the events leading up to the tuna melt overshadow the actual meal. I get that. Realistically, Rhett could have skipped making the tuna melt after all that drama.
Book trivia: the cover of The Thing About My Uncle is beautiful.
~*LunaSea*~ 