That is Not What I Asked You
Becca Marcus would like one simple thing: an answer to the question she actually asked.
Unfortunately, her sixteen-year-old son, Owen, seems to believe that "yeah," "why?", "I heard you," and a shrug are all perfectly complete forms of communication.
What time do you need to be there?
Why?
Did you turn in the assignment?
I did it.
Do you need anything from Target?
No.
Three minutes later:
Actually...
Becca loves her family. She even likes them most of the time. But somewhere between childhood and sixteen, ordinary conversation with Owen became a decoding exercise involving grunts, read receipts, forgotten deadlines, vague logistical announcements, and stories about "Some Guy" who may or may not actually be Owen.
So Becca does what any competent woman would do.
She develops a system.
Unfortunately, the more she tries to teach Owen to communicate clearly, retrieve his own information, make actual requests, and take responsibility for his own life, the more she discovers something deeply inconvenient:
Owen is not the only person in the Marcus family who answers questions sideways.
He just uses fewer words.
That Is Not What I Asked You is a sharp, warm, laugh-out-loud novel about mothers, teenagers, invisible labor, letting go, and the strange realization that loving someone does not always mean managing them.
Perfect for anyone who has ever asked a perfectly straightforward question and received an answer to something else entirely.
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