Rain Reign

Rain Reign is a work of middle-grade contemporary fiction written by American author Ann M. Martin and published in 2014. The novel was chosen for the 2014 New York Times Notable Children’s Books list. Martin is the original author of the best-selling Baby-Sitters Club series of books and has written over 100 books for young readers. She has received numerous awards over the course of her career, including the Newbery Medal in 2013 and a Distinguished Service Award from the American Association of School Librarians in 2015. Early in her career, Martin worked as a teacher for students with special needs, and she has said this experience influenced her later work. This guide refers to the 2018 First Square Fish paperback edition.

Plot Summary

Eleven-year-old Rose Howard lives with her father, Wesley, in the small town of Hatford in upstate New York. Wesley has always told her that her mother left the two of them when Rose was young, and she doesn’t remember her mother at all. Rose has been diagnosed with high-functioning autism, which makes learning in a conventional classroom environment difficult. Rose sometimes feels isolated from her peers because of her disability. Wesley works intermittently at a local garage and spends much of his free time in a neighborhood bar. He is impatient and dismissive of Rose’s needs. Rose’s uncle Weldon lives in Hatford and is a kind, caring, involved part of Rose’s life.

Rose owns a dog, Rain, that Wesley brought home with him one day. Wesley found the dog behind the bar without a collar and assumes that she’s a stray. Rose and Rain are inseparable, with Rain providing a calming, stabilizing presence in Rose’s life. Rose enjoys taking care of her pet and feeling an emotional connection with Rain.

Hatford is in the path of an oncoming hurricane expected to turn inland, and Rose and Wesley hurriedly prepare for storm damage. On the night of the storm, Wesley lets Rain outside, and the dog doesn’t return. Rose wakes up the next morning to find that Rain has disappeared and wasn’t wearing a collar. To make matters worse, the storm has created flooding that strands her and Wesley at their house until Weldon can build a temporary bridge over the flooding. Heartbroken over Rain’s disappearance, Rose calls animal shelters with the hope that Rain has been found and taken in. Eventually, Rain is brought to a shelter, and Rose happily reunites with her pet. However, the shelter manager reports that Rain is microchipped and that the shelter staff have been trying to reach the family whose information was listed on it. Rose is troubled that Rain might have belonged to people who still want to find her.

Rose decides to track down Rain’s old owners and enlists the help of her teacher and a local journalist to spread the word about her search. Wesley has been fired from his job and is increasingly irritable with Rose, and his behavior begins to border on abusive toward her and Rain. Rain’s previous owners eventually hear about Rose trying to find them. They are overjoyed to be able to claim their dog, and Rose gives up her beloved pet to her old owners, convinced that it’s the right thing to do and that Rain will have a good life with them.

Apparently convinced that Rose will be better off with his brother, Wesley abruptly leaves Rose at Weldon’s house one night and drives off. His disappearance seems likely to be permanent. Rose and Weldon make a fresh start together—and decide they’d like to get a new dog. Rose asks Weldon about her mother, and he reveals that Rose’s mother died when she was young, rather than leaving her and Wesley as her father always attested.

During the course of the story, Rose observes various communities grappling with the aftereffects of the hurricane and learns about resilience, loss, and community in the process. She creates friendships with her classmates, receives help from the adults in her life, and begins to understand herself better. This coming-of-age story incorporates themes of trauma, family, self-reliance, acceptance, and overcoming challenges.