New York Locales in Tell the Wolves I'm Home: Background information when reading Tell the Wolves I'm Home

New York Locales in Tell the Wolves I'm Home

This article relates to Tell the Wolves I'm Home

The characters in Tell the Wolves I'm Home visit numerous locations in New York City and Westchester County, New York, and the accuracy of Rifka Brunt's descriptions adds a rich flavor to the story. If you're the type of person who likes to travel to literary-inspired destinations, you might consider these three stops:

• The Cloisters: June's favorite place to visit with Finn was The Cloisters, located in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan. These gardens and museum, which opened to the public in 1938, are a part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and feature the various architectural, artistic and stylistic designs of medieval Europe. The abbey, constructed using materials from five French medieval cloisters (Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Bonnefont-en-Comminges, Trie-en-Bigorre, and Froville) houses over 3,000 artifacts and works of art, many of which were donated by John D. Rockefeller, including the famous Unicorn Tapestries. According to the museum's website, The Cloisters also features "gardens planted according to horticultural information found in medieval treatises and poetry".



• Playland: In the early stage of June and Toby's friendship, Toby takes June to Playland, a large amusement park in Rye, New York. The park has an old-fashioned feel and boasts a great view of the Long Island Sound. June and Toby mostly meander through the rides and pause to get an old-fashioned portrait drawn, but the park offers numerous activities including concerts, ice skating, swimming and special holiday events. It covers 280 acres and is unique, both as an historic recreation area (construction began in 1927) and as a municipal-administered amusement park. Its beautiful Art Deco designs have also earned it a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.



• The Bronx Zoo: Late in the novel, Toby and June visit the Bronx Zoo. June chooses this special destination as a treat for Toby; she believes that, second to her beloved Cloisters, it "is the next best way to leave New York without leaving New York." One of the biggest urban zoos in the world, it offers visitors the chance to see animals from every continent, and is one of five parks administered by the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Bronx Zoo image by Stavenn.

Filed under Places, Cultures & Identities

This "beyond the book article" relates to Tell the Wolves I'm Home. It originally ran in July 2012 and has been updated for the June 2013 paperback edition. Go to magazine.