Try, Try Again

If at first you don’t succeed

Try, try again.

Teachers start back to school today. Although I have already been in quite a bit, today if my first official day at my new school. It took me two tries to get to middle school, interviewing in the Spring of 2014 unsuccessfully, then again in Spring 2015, successfully.

Some books are like that, you pick them up, abandon them, then pick them up again later, only to love them. This happened many years ago with Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. 

My sister sent it to me and told me how much she had loved it. I read the first chapter, questioned my sister;s judgement and set it aside. A few months later I picked it up again and it was like reading a different book. I was hooked.

I had this experience recently with Rain, Reign by Ann M. Martin.

It was Rose’s voice that irritated me the first time. Rose is the autistic main character and narrator who has an obsession with homonyms. And that obsession made me put the book aside the first time I picked it up. I picked it up again this week, persevered and I am glad I did.

Publisher’s Summary: Rose Howard has Asperger’s syndrome, and an obsession with homonyms (even her name is a homonym). She gave her dog Rain a name with two homonyms (Reign, Rein), which, according to Rose’s rules of homonyms, is very special. Rain was a lost dog Rose’s father brought home. Rose and Rain are practically inseparable. And they are often home alone, as Rose’s father spends most evenings at a bar, and doesn’t have much patience for his special-needs daughter.

Just as a storm hits town, 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. Rose will find Rain, but so will Rain’s original owners.

What really made this book worth reading is seeing how Rose really steps outside her comfort zone after Rain disappears, to do the right thing, even though she knows it will make her very sad.