Rose Howard is an eleven-year-old with Asperger's who is obsessed with homonyms. One night her father brings home a stray dog. Rose names her Rain because it has two homonyms, and because she was found in a rainstorm.When Rain goes missing during a hurricane, Rose searches for her.
Rain Reign contains examples of:
- Alliterative Family: Rose's father Wesley and her uncle Weldon.
- Backseat Driver: Rose corrects people who don't obey the traffic laws. She was kicked off the school bus because the driver didn't use a directional, and Rose yelled "Mrs. Ringwood, stop right now!" causing a minor traffic jam.
- Foster Kid: When Rose's father was ten, he and Weldon were removed from their abusive father and placed in foster care. They lived in a total of seven foster homes before they turned eighteen. The longest they ever stayed with a family was 21 months. The shortest was 78 days.
- Held Back in School: Rose is in fifth grade despite being almost twelve because the school doesn't know what to do with her.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Two platonic examples. Rose returns Rain, aka Olivia, to her original owners. Rain's excitement when she sees them tells Rose that she's made the right decision. Later, her father abandons her with her Uncle Weldon because he thinks Weldon would be a better parent. Rose realizes how hard the decision must have been for him.
- Missing Mom: Rose's mom ran away from the family when she was two. Or so her father told her. She learns later that her mother actually died. One thing she has in common with her father is that he was also raised by his dad but not his mom.
- Narrative Profanity Filter: Rose's father says, "That Jerry fired me today." Rose adds that instead of "Jerry," he actually said a word she's not allowed to say.
- Parental Abandonment: Rose's father drops her off at Uncle Weldon's house and disappears.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Wesley Howard is a hot-tempered mechanic. Weldon is more soft-spoken and works a "wuss job" at a desk.
- Sensory Overload: In class, Rose is driven to distraction by things the other kids don't notice, like the humming of the teacher's laptop. She's the only kid who screams and covers her ears during fire drills.
- Tropey, Come Home: Rose systematically searches for Rain, calling all the shelters. It turns out Rain's previous owners did the same thing, even making flyers, but they never found her because she was living with the Howards.
