Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin is an emotionally evocative book about a girl and her dog.
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 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.
(Reviewed from a copy borrowed through my library system.)
No comments:
Post a Comment