Book Review: Rain Reign

The cover enticed me to pick up this book. Isn't it great? I love the rich blues, the rain, and the shadowy figures of the girl and dog. The title was perplexing and the author is identified as a "Newbery Honor Author" (author of the Babysitters Club series, although I've never read any of those). I'm glad all these aspects of the cover sucked me in because it was a delightful book.

Rose Howard is an obsessive fifth grade girl (she has Asperger's Syndrome). She is obsessed with homonyms, prime numbers, and following the rules. Her father is doing his best to raise her on his own, but often grows weary of Rose's insistence on rule-following and homonym-identifying. To show his love for her, one night he returns home with a dog he found stranded behind a building in the rain. Rose calls him "Rain" because of how he was found and because the word has two homonyms (rein and reign).

Rain becomes Rose's beloved companion. Then, one day, a fierce storm blows into town. The creek by their house floods, leaving them stranded, and Rain disappears when Rose's dad lets her out.

Rain Reign is a heart-breaking, tender tale about a very unique girl and her love for a dog. You will come to love Rose and to feel for her in her difficulties with people and with situations that stretch her out of her comfort zone. If you enjoyed Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie, chances are you will equally enjoy Ann M. Martin's book, Rain Reign. If you are familiar with kids who deal with Asperger's, this is sure to strike you as spot on. It is a tale well worth absorbing.