Apparently a cult young-adult read

[Jeff]

The current (January 2009) issue of The Believer has a fascinating piece on "Let's Kill Uncle" by the young critic Theo Schell-Lambert. Apparently Rohan O'Grady was the pseudonym for a Vancouver-area housewife named June Skinner. Schell-Lambert recounts how the novel was a staple of his autocratic primary-school teacher, and how the novel itself became a touchstone for and commentary on the very classroom dynamics the young Schell-Lambert had to engage in. The obsession with the book ultimately leads to a search for its author. As Schell-Lambert notes in his piece, the book is hard to find, but worth the effort.

[Stacy]

let's kill uncle was one of the most important books of my childhood/young adulthood. my siblings and i read and reread it so frequently that we contemplated stealing it from the library, but of course did not. i haven't read it for decades now, and have such profound memories of the book that i would almost be afraid to do so. kind of like seeing "seven brides for seven brothers" as a grown up. not a good experience.