Title: Shouting at the Rain
Author: Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Published By: Nancy Paulsen Books (2019)
Synopsis:
Delsie loves tracking the weather–lately, though, it seems the squalls are in her own life. She’s always lived with her kindhearted Grammy, but now she’s looking at their life with new eyes and wishing she could have a “regular family.” Delsie observes other changes in the air, too–the most painful being a friend who’s outgrown her. Luckily, she has neighbors with strong shoulders to support her, and Ronan, a new friend who is caring and courageous but also troubled by the losses he’s endured. As Ronan and Delsie traipse around Cape Cod on their adventures, they both learn what it means to be angry versus sad, broken versus whole, and abandoned versus loved. And that, together, they can weather any storm. (Taken from Goodreads)
My Review:
Another beautiful work from Lynda Mullaly Hunt! The story is unique, yet so simple and so carefully put together! There are so many aspects at play—so much tangible real life and real characters that come together to show the reader some unmistakably important themes about life.
I loved Delsie, our main character; she was so easy to love, so easy to relate to. She has authentic struggles, but she plows on anyway, and comes out stronger, something very inspirational to read about. Even though there is a wide cast of characters, they each are unique in their own way. Spiteful Olive; hardworking, loving Henry; thoughtful Esme; spunky Ruby; I could go on and on.
I absolutely adored the theme/message of, “Some friends are glitter, some are glue” and I think the author communicated this very well. Sure, some of the aspects, such as the close friend who changes and chooses the other friend, and the broody boy who becomes the new best friend, are frequent in middle grade and thereof it was fairly predictable, but it was still fun to read about. I loved Delsie’s grandmother—she was so different but also so realistic.
I love the anagrams, I love the “shouting at the rain” mindset and theme, and I also really enjoyed how the story’s plot just carefully progressed across real life, without a ton of action or drama. You can’t always get away with that, but this book executed it marvelously.
A few negatives: some scenes were too long in my opinion, and at the beginning, characters narrated events too much, saying exactly what was happening and talking in ways people never actually talk, which annoyed me a little. I also almost feel like the book could have ended four chapters before it did.
Overall, I wasn’t blown away, mostly due to the predictability, but it was still an important novel carefully crafted and I would recommend it, especially for readers middle-grade and younger. 4.5 stars.