Rain Reign

This little novel is one of the best reading experiences I've had in a long time. The narrative voice of Rose Howard is direct, compelling and sometimes heart-breaking.

Rose is the author of the novel. She sets out to tell her story with structured straight forward honesty, setting out the events and providing the background we need to understand them. She even gives us permission to skip the chapters that experience has taught her we might find boring, like when she explains her rules for listing homonyms (which are really homophones but she knows that homonym is an accepted colloquialism and which are even more fascinating that prime numbers).

She tells us about her life , her father's life, why she isn't allowed to ride the school bus show more any more, her teacher, her classmates, her uncle and the damage that Super Storm, Hurricane Susan did and her dog, Rain (whose name is a homonym: R A I N and R E I G N), who she loves even more than homonyms and who loves her back.

Rose is a high-functioning autistic, so she sees the world differently from most people. As she tells her story, I began to understand the clarity and honesty of Rose's vision and to share her ability to take joy in things that most people don't value (what can I say: I really do enjoy homonyms) and to admire the effort she puts in to communicate with the people around her despite their tendency to break rules and to be mean to each other.

Some of Rose's behaviours are distressing to her and to the people around her. Her ability to experience and express empathy is very limited. She has to work hard to make her behaviour "appropriate" and she does not like to be touched. It does not occur to Rose to feel sorry for herself. This is not to say that she doesn't feel sorrow. She feels it deeply. When she asks what she is supposed to do with the blank spaces in her day that used to be filled by things she loved, I wanted to hold her. I wouldn't have, of course. Rose doesn't like to be touched.

The book is written with a gratifying lack of sentimentality and a complete absence of self-pity which I found made the emotional impact of the book even stronger.

Rose is not a victim. She doesn't need to be rescued. She is a little girl. She needs to love and to be loved back. For everything else, she will make a plan and find a way through.

Years ago, when it was fashionable, I tried to read "The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time" and gave up because I felt the autistic child was being used as a clever plot device. "Rain Reign" grabbed me from the first page and didn't let go because it is a book in which a little girl tells her story with complete honesty. The fact that she is a high functioning autistic is no more or less important that that she's a girl, or an American, or that she lives alone with her father.

I strongly recommend the audio version of this book. Laura Hamilton performs Rose perfectly. show less

This Newbery award winning author succeeded where many fail. Packing many issues into a small book, all of which are difficult subjects, yet rendered with a beautiful poignancy, marks this book a gem beyond compare!

Rose has a lot against her, including an emotionally and physically abusive father. Told by her father that she was abandoned at age two by her mother, she lives with the aching feeling that she is not wanted.

In addition, she is high on the spectrum of Aspergers, and she manifests a great deal of obsessive compulsive disorder. Having a coach at school helps, still, adjusting to a classroom setting is very difficult. With a father who does not want a "retard" for a child, her burden is great.

Obsessively excited when she finds show more homonyms, she blurts out the names. Rule bound, she has panic attacks when there is a lack of consistency.

Rose has a lot going for her, including an Uncle who loves her unconditionally. In addition, she has a wonderful relationship with her trusty dog Rain. Named because her father found him at the back of the bar in a rainstorm, it is one of the few gifts he ever gave Rose. Rain is with her throughout the lonely time when her father is drinking and she stays by herself, anticipating the arrival of a nasty, unpredictable adult.

She can count on Rain. She can count on her Uncle. All else is quicksand and ever shifting.

When a hurricane approaches and her father lets Rain outside, tragically after the storm, Rain is gone. Pulling together all the strength she can muster, she solicits the help of her Uncle and forms a game plan to find her beloved dog.

This is a powerful book written by an author who knows how to tell an emotional story without over dramatizing.

My favorite book thus far this year, this remains long after the last page is read.

FIVE STARS show less

Rose, a high-functioning autistic 12-year-old, loves homonyms and prime numbers, her Uncle Weldon, and her dog Rain. Her father is often harsh, her mother is gone, and her classmates are not particularly friendly, so Rose treasures the few bright spots in her life. When her father lets Rain out without her collar in the aftermath of a hurricane, Rain is lost, but Rose soon makes a plan to find Rain again. Will she succeed?

I like to shoot straight with people in my reviews of dog books, so I will tell you this: the dog does not die, but this book will still make you cry. Martin does a good job of capturing the relationship between Rose and Rain without descending into sappiness. My only criticism of the book is that the ending felt show more rushed to me -- certain things happened and were never explained fully. On the other hand, that's quite similar to real life, especially for kids in situations similar to Rose's, so perhaps I shouldn't complain. I would recommend this book to readers who like stories featuring animals and don't mind a little sadness along the way. show less

I think this will be a popular book among middle-grade readers who love dog stories and heart-wrenchers. Rose is a memorable narrator who is easy to root for, even while her obsession with homonyms is potentially tiresome for readers (as it is for the people around her in the world of the book). I've criticized similar books for being too bummer-y and this one comes pretty close to my personal limit for how many bummers I can take in one story. However, I think Rose's self-referential narrative style (she'll say stuff like, "I'll talk about that more in the next chapter") adds a distinct flavor that makes this more readable. It's like Rose is trying to help you get through her story--like she knows she's a little annoying and her show more situation is depressing but she wants to encourage you to keep reading. The ending was somewhat abrupt and convenient Rose's borderline abusive father up and decides in the middle of the night to leave Rose in the care of her kind and understanding uncle. It makes sense and it doesn't--a really interesting point for young readers to mull over, but also pretty satisfying. And, I have to say, I felt a strong urge to hug my own dog tight after reading this book. show less

Rose Howard is eleven years old in the fifth grade at Hatford Elementary. She likes homonyms, rules, and prime numbers. Rose loves loves loves her dog Rain, who has exactly seven white toes. On one level, this is a sad story about how Rose lost, then found, and then lost (again) Rain. On other levels, Rose's story is, of course, about much more: her diagnosis, her father, and the life Rose wins at, despite both. Rose is charming to me as a reader but I acutely feel the frustrations her single father fights with. His actions are not unobjectionable, however, and the ending is a relief for everyone, especially me. The hero in this story is Uncle Weldon; we should all strive to be a Weldon. This is a book for young readers, yet Martin show more manages to create very realistic and very human characters with complex facets that even adults wrestle with. It's exactly right for 5th to 7th graders. Highly recommended. (Actually, I can also see this becoming a Hollywood film, as long as they drop in a cute love interest somewhere, the shelter manager maybe, for Weldon. Don't forget voice-over narration for Rose.) show less

I have a soft spot for stories about people on the autism spectrum, yes, but this is truly a touching and heartbreaking book. It downplays melodrama and instead brings you into Rose's mind, a mind that is sharp and observant but still struggles to exist in a day-to-day dulled by ordinary existence. She is an endearing protagonist and her quest is one of remarkable yet everyday courage. Highly recommended. Read with about one kleenex, if you are a crier. If not, you'll be good.

First off, no dogs die in this book. But it does still have a bittersweet ending. There may have been tears.

I've read a few books about kids with autism, but this is the first kid's book I've read written from the perspective of the child with autism rather than from a friend or family member. Martin gets us into Rose's head, and through the course of the novel we come to understand why she thinks and process the way she does. Like Rose's beloved homonyms, this book is about duality, about being able to hold two diverging perspectives in your head at once. Through reading Rose's account we see and understand why she gets upset over things like rule breaking while simultaneously knowing that the rules being broken are incredibly mild, show more almost insignificant. We can see why her father gets so frustrated with her while also recognizing that his lack of understanding makes him a worse parent. We see all the places he falls short as a father, but also see how hard he is trying to be a good father to Rose and a better man than his own father. This gives the novel a depth I wasn't expecting but was glad to find.

Martin-as-Rose's writing style is composed mainly of short, choppy sentences, the kind I see out of my struggling students. But rather than making the prose feel clunky, this works. Martin blends in enough flow that we get Rose's to-the-point personality without being driven crazy. I also thought the constant peppering of homonyms would bug me, but it didn't.

Would pair well with Wonder, Rules, Out of My Mind. show less