Hardcover, 226 pages
Published
October 7th 2014
by Feiwel & Friends
ISBN: 0312643004
(ISBN13: 9780312643003)
literary awards
Schneider Family Book Award for Middle School (2015), Josette Frank Award for Older Readers (2015), Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (2016), Charlotte Huck Book Award (2015)
I'm late to the table on this one. I got an egalley from Netgalley oh, last summer? And I was in the midst of writing my dissertation and having my personal life blow up, so in my defense even if I had read it then, I don't think I would have been able to give it the attention it deserves. That said, let's talk about Rain Reign.
The buzz in education is starting to be about differently abled thinkers. If you wonder what I mean by this, look at books like The Reason I Jump and Look Me in the Eye: My life with Asperger's. We are starting to see that Asperger Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is not necessarily a disability. After all, Temple Grandin achieved a PhD and is arguably one of the top animal behaviorists in the country. I encourage you to think about ASD in different ways (pun intended!).
Rain Reign is the story of Rose, a girl whose mother is gone and whose father turns to alcohol to drown his feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy. At Rose's school, she has an adult who helps care for her and a teacher who is mindful of Rose and her different world view. In the ensuing months, we get to see the world from Rose's point of view, and once we get that her "strange" behaviors are the result of efforts to maintain control of her thoughts and behavior, they don't seem any weirder than taking a deep breath when we are nervous before a presentation. Rose loves homonyms and maintains a list of them, which grows during the course of the story.
Rose's father gives her a dog, Rain, who is the highlight of her day. She spends a lot of time with Rain while her father is at the bar, at work, or otherwise not available (which is most of the time). Rose's uncle becomes close to Rose and is her adult support and family because her father is just not able to interact in a positive way with his daughter. The story really starts when a hurricane is predicted over the area. During this storm Rose's father lets Rain out without a collar to do what dogs do, but Rain disappears and is missing for weeks. Rose is heartbroken. She figures out a way to search for Rain and eventually she does find the dog, but now there's a new wrinkle-- this dog belonged to someone else originally. Rose's father had found the dog, and neglected to check for a microchip. But when the dog arrived at a shelter, they scanned her and realized that Rain belonged to another family. How Rose resolves this and how her family takes care of her is the part of the story that to me is uplifting and hopeful.
This book is suitable for younger middle readers, 11-14 years old. The fact that Rose is in elementary will appeal to kids who remember what that's like. I recommend Rain Reign for middle school libraries, and for older kids Look Me in the Eye and The Reason I Jump are suitable for this topic. If you have other suggestions, please add them in the comments section!
