Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

We buried our family dog last Saturday. Losing a dog is always difficult for me, and the pain I felt saying goodbye to Bandit seemed endless. I just happened to be reading Ann Martin's new book Rain Reign at the same time; that turned out to be an okay thing, and maybe even good.

Martin wrote A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray years ago, and I loved that read. Martin is a prolific writer; her website shows a whole bunch of titles I have not even touched yet. I may be inaccurate but based on the content of A Dog's Life, I see Martin as knowledgable about dogs. When I saw Rain Reign, I did not hesitate to check it out. Martin weaves together Aspberger's, relationships, and homonyms all into a artful mosaic-like story. Her content surprised me and further engaged me (and even has me hearing more homonyms!).  In short order, Rose's dad brings home Rain the stray dog and gives the dog to Rose. Times are hard at home, a giant hurricane comes and wreaks havoc, and Rose actively struggles with behavior stemming from her Asperger's. Said father lets Rain out to go to the bathroom during the flooding aftermath of the storm and Rain doesn't return. Rose and her uncle (very interesting and lovely relationship here) search for the dog, eventually finding her as well as discovering some more of the mystery of Rain. I refuse to say more here because I don't want to spoil the book for you, but suffice it to say that there is light within the great dark story that Martin paints as Rose's life.

Looking for a new great dog book? Looking for a terrific new y.a. novel? Looking for more on Aspbergers? Wanna know more about homonyms? Here you go, on a silver platter: Rain Reign.