Tell the Wolves I'm Home - Post Reading

          “I was the girl who never understood who she was to people.” This is a quote from the book that I read this month, “Tell the Wolves I’m Home” by Carol Rifka Brunt. The main character, a girl named June, said this. She thought she was the most important person to her uncle because he was the most important person to her. He was also her godfather and they spent a lot of time together. However, it was only after he died that she found this to be false. The same was true with her sister, Greta. When they were younger, they were best friends. They played games together and never kept secrets from each other. As they grew older, Greta began to be bitter towards her sister. She always made fun of her sister and was always rude. Also, June thought that just because someone was her best friend meant that she was their best friend as well. She found that the feeling was not mutual as they drifted apart. She thought that Toby was friendly with her because he was lonely, but found out that her uncle had told Toby to take care of her, just as he had told her to take care of Toby.

          This can happen in everyday life to ordinary people as well. It doesn’t just have to happen in stories. There were two different people at different times that I thought were my best friends, only to realize that they didn’t think the same of me. I don’t hate them now; I just realize that we will never be any more than acquaintances now. This has helped me to realize that it can be more difficult to go through losing a friend than it is to live with only a handful of friends. It also helped me to realize that finding a best friend who will remain your best friend through nearly anything is extremely rare, and I realize how lucky I am to have someone like that, even if it is only one person.

          Perhaps one reason I enjoyed this book was that June reminded me of myself in many ways.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home - Pre Reading

     I heard the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” many times growing up. I always understood its meaning that someone can be either more or less than what they appear on the surface, but never had it proven to be true in my daily life until recently.
     The phrase means that you shouldn’t judge someone based on first impressions. If you were to pick up a book with a boring dusty cover, you probably wouldn’t want to read the book. However, the book might actually be very good. The opposite is also true: if you see a book with a well-drawn and colored picture on the front, it might seem interesting at first. This does not mean that the book is interesting, though. It could be one of the most boring and poorly written stories you have ever read.
     The same is true for people, so you should not judge someone based on first impressions. However, this does not mean that making a good first impression is not important. This has been true for me as well. For example, there was someone that I knew from around first grade, but never took the time to get to know better, even though we had all the same classes every year. I dismissed her as being shallow simply because she was popular. However, last year I had the opportunity to talk to her more, even though it was only for a few minutes. I realized that we have many things in common; more than appear at first glance. This is a good example in everyday life of the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover”.
     The same can also be true in literature. At first, a particular character may seem to be good, but at the end of the book are revealed to be bad. The reverse can also be true, though more rarely (such as Snape in the “Harry Potter” books and movies).
     This phrase teaches us to try to take many things into account and get to know someone before dismissing them, trusting them, or spreading rumors.