The thing about my uncle was that I hardly knew him. Uncle Theo kept to himself, some would say he was a recluse, and by all accounts, that was how he preferred it. I couldn’t precisely recall when I had seen him last in the flesh. I just had a foggy recollection from when I was little, like a grainy home movie with cracks and skips and frames missing…
Although ten years have passed, Rhett Littlefield has always blamed himself for his father abandoning him and his family. When the troubled fourteen-year-old gets kicked out of school for his latest run-in with the vice principal, his frazzled single mother sends him to the hollers of Eastern Kentucky to stay with his Uncle Theo, a man of few words who leads an isolated existence with his loyal dog, Chekhov.
Resigned to make the best of his situation while still longing for the day when Mama will allow him to return home, Rhett settles into his new life. Rhett barely remembers his uncle, but he’s determined to get to know him. As he does, Rhett discovers that he and Uncle Theo share a connection to the past, one that has altered both their lives, a past that will soon come calling.
The Thing About My Uncle is an engaging and heartwarming coming-of-age story that explores the cost of family secrets, the strength of family bonds, and the importance of reconciling the two in order to move forward.
CW – don’t worry. The dog survives
Dear Mr. Stavros,
Every so often I get a hankering for something different and after reading some Southern fiction from Sean Dietrich last year, I’ve been eyeing various books that might give me more of that. “The Thing About My Uncle” is a lot more middle grade in feel than Dietrich’s books but I still enjoyed the self-discovery of it.
Rhett is a troubled teen. Pops left the family ten years ago when Rhett was four and since then, it’s been Rhett, his little sister, and his frazzled mother trying to provide for them all. Rhett does what he wants and can get away with but when he – or actually a friend – goes a step too far at school, Rhett is sent across state to live with his Uncle and try home schooling. (And seriously, why would this “step” not have been investigated??)
It’s not that Rhett is bad but he feels abandoned – again – and only grudgingly settles into life in eastern Kentucky out in the sticks. Uncle Theo believes in routines and soon gets Rhett on them, too, but there’s a lot going on here that Rhett doesn’t understand nor will Uncle Theo explain so Rhett takes to asking some questions, listening when maybe he shouldn’t, and poking around where probably he shouldn’t. When past events come calling, Rhett’s going to have to decide how he wants his life to go from here.
Told in first person by Rhett, who at fourteen is both smart and adrift in a world he doesn’t know well, the story covers a lot of ground. Though Rhett’s overworked mother has tried, she hasn’t had the time to keep Rhett engaged at school. Uncle Theo’s routines allow for little variance so Rhett struggles a bit at first before settling down and discovering that learning can be a bit more enjoyable than he thinks. He also starts to explore the area around his Uncle’s house “out in the sticks” and sees the beauty and the types of wild critters whose meat Uncle Theo’s neighbors trade for the “produce” of his garden. Eating Bambi, Rocky the Squirrel and other types of game that he’s never had is made better by his uncle’s skill in the kitchen, though.
It’s pretty obvious to readers what else Uncle Theo has growing in his garden (and he’s more than a bit disingenuous about justifying it) but to his credit, he attempts to keep Rhett out of it until Rhett’s inquisitive nature forces the truth. Rhett, who his former lawyer uncle swears ought to become a lawyer, has a way with cross examination. The source of the danger that slowly begins to appear is also obvious. I could understand, a bit, Rhett not initially grasping things but Uncle Theo is too blasé in spite of past events. When his neighbors catch wind of potential danger, the way they rally around Theo and Rhett is lovely.
There is a degree of violence in the story. The “bad people” really are bad and not afraid to be bad. Maybe Theo is just trying to make himself believe that there’s nothing to fear but honestly, more than a few times I wanted to shake him and Rhett for putting 2 + 2 together and getting 2.75. But then Rhett admits that fractions aren’t his strong point. There is a glaring plot hole in why someone doesn’t try and contact Rhett earlier but I’ll accept it for Overall Plot Reasons. I also wonder what Rhett’s mother is going to say when she discovers what her brother sells to his neighbors.
The book ends with a few loose threads still loose but in ways that make sense. Rhett appears to be settling into a place that he now sees as home even though he does miss his sister and his mother. But some of his school friends? Yeah, I’d stay clear of them in the future. I also think that younger readers might not be bothered by some of the problematic things that stuck out to me. B-/C+
~Jayne
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Jayne
Another long time reader who read romance novels in her teens, then took a long break before started back again about 25 years ago. She enjoys historical romance/fiction best, likes contemporaries, action- adventure and mysteries, will read suspense if there’s no TSTL characters and is currently reading more fantasy and SciFi.
