Rain Reign

by Ann M Martin

[nannah]

I have ... mixed reactions on this book. On one hand, it's a GREAT introduction to autistic people & the way we on the spectrum (well, some of us) operate if you're not and don't really know what it's like to be autistic.

I'm autistic, so a lot of my thoughts on this book are 1. based on my experience, and 2. going to be a response to this book written by a neurotypical (aka non-autistic) person.

Book content warnings:
in-book ABLEISM!!
domestic abuse!

Rose Howard is a girl on the "Spectrum" (as in she's autistic) who's obsessed with homonyms, rules, which led to her giving her dog the name Rain (reign, rein). It's a triple homonym, so that's special, like her relationship with her dog. But one day during a hurricane, Rain gets lost, which leads to a complicated relationship with rules and doing what's right.

I immediately knew the author wasn't autistic because although this is possibly the BEST portrayal of an autistic character I've ever read (granted, I've read about three :S), Rose is written as if she's a boy with autism. Okay, okay, that's just me getting annoyed with people who won't actually research the difference with male/female autism (and certainly there are women with autism who show the """"male""" traits and vice versa, especially since in her author notes Ann M. Martin seemed to base Rose off one autistic girl, and this is definitely very "cis", BUT! I just wish people would learn that many-most afab [assigned female at birth] autistics show autism in a different way than amab autistics.). I could get into that but that's just ... not related to the book here so I'll stop. But here's a link that shows some of the differences: here

If there's one thing I REALLY hate it's writing about a marginalized group ... by writing about its "isms" -- as in writing about the hate that group experiences. We really do exist beyond the hate we experience, folks. And autistic people's stories really do exist beyond how we affect our caregivers. It's not all about them. It doesn't seem so at first, but this book does fit into the category of being "all about the caregiver", because it has a moral, which is that if you cannot take care of your autistic child, give them to someone who can better (Rose giving Rain back to her original family; Rose's dad giving Rose to Uncle Weldon).

I'm not trying to be mean, because this book IS a valuable resource for children (and others!) who just "don't get" us autistics, but there are things to criticize as well ...

Also beware of the trigger warnings: I was glad I had my ferrets cuddling me, because I nearly got worked up into an anxiety attack during a scene where the child abuse became something much less vague than previous chapters. Like I said before, I just wish we could have representation and just be without having to have the book about the hate against us, you know? It makes it plain the book isn't for us. It's by people who aren't like us, for people who aren't like us. That just makes me ... sad.