Review: Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

5 stars for Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin.

In my quest for more children's fiction, I realise that I have overlooked this lone book which has been sitting quietly in a corner on my bookshelf. I bought this book some years back for my girl who chose it out of many others in the bookstore. For some reason or other, she did not finish reading the book. For now, I shall do the honors of reading it to the end.

Rain Reign is a story on 11-year old Rose Howard who is diagnosed with high functioning autism (some called it Asperger Syndrome) and is unusually preoccupied with homonyms. Embarrassed to say, I have no idea what a homonym, or to be accurate, a homophone, is before I read this book. In case you are like me, let me explain. Homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but spelled differently. A good example is Rose's homophone name is Rows. Another example is Rose's dog; she calls it Rain. Rain has two homonyms - rein and reign. Does the book title make sense now?

Rain Reign is a uncomplicated story with not many characters, mainly Rose and her dog, Rain, her father, her uncle Weldon (father's younger brother) and some school people. Yet as straightforward as it is, the story tugs at my heartstrings. Because the writer let me experience the world through the eyes of young Rose who has a lifelong disability; a condition that affects how she processes information, relates to other people and makes sense of everything. And because this disability is mostly a 'hidden disability', in the sense people cannot tell from Rose's outward appearance that she has this condition - difficulties in social communication, interaction and imagination - she is often misunderstood by others.

While it is one thing to see how Rose is misunderstood by others, it is another to see how she is treated by her own father. Here, the author does an excellent job with Rose's father, what with the way he conduct himself, the manner in which he responds to his daughter's questions and his acceptance of her behavior. We, as readers, may not quite agree with the father's way, but his attitude to Rose is not without cause. It is challenging living with and taking care of a special needs child, day in day out. What I like is that the author makes him try. We do not know the father's full story but the thing is, he tries to do right by his daughter, even if somehow, he is not there.

I enjoy listening to Rose's voice and I appreciate seeing the world the way she sees it. I may have no idea how it is like in reality, but in this story, Rose is one brave - and stubborn - girl who believes in rules, and that rules are rules and must be followed, even when following said rules will lead to heartache, even when doing the right thing means breaking her heart. It certainly breaks my heart reading the last part of the story.

Now that I have finished reading the book, I hope this copy of Rain Reign will be put to good use again by someone in the family some day.


Publisher: Square Fish
Publication date: 2 Jan 2018

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Rose Howard is obsessed with homonyms. She's thrilled that her own name is a homonym, and she purposely gave her dog Rain a name with two homonyms (Reign, Rein), which, according to Rose's rules of homonyms, is very special. Not everyone understands Rose's obsessions, her rules, and the other things that make her different – not her teachers, not other kids, and not her single father.

When a storm hits their rural town, rivers overflow, the roads are flooded, and Rain goes missing. Rose's father shouldn't have let Rain out. Now Rose has to find her dog, even if it means leaving her routines and safe places to search.

*Blurb from Fantasticfiction*

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