Apple and Rain

By: Sarah Crossan
Genre: Family that doesn't
Location: FIC CRO

I read this book over the holidays, I snuggled up in bed, over looking Lake Taupo with a good coffee and a soft blankie.
It was a good read, reminded me how much my Nana mattered in my life.  It made me also think- how many people do I know that have talents they are ashamed to reveal, because they demand honesty and revelation.
It also made me want to call my Mum and say thankyou, for her love, care, belief and self sacrifice. My mum made sure I could be a child, that I could grow up at just the right age at the right time. It made me remember my Grans roasts and it inspired me that perhaps one day in her past my Mum was lost as a child but she was found. It was her Dad that nearly destroyed her though- not her Mum like in this book.
It reminded me of the power, the huge power, a teacher can have in endorsing students, in believing in them, in changing their world, in creating the environment for the inner genius and soul to be revealed!
It reminded me that there are many people around me who are abandoned, sure we don't see it, they are not on the street looking distraught, but they are at home, coping, alone, looking after dependents and pretending when they come to school all is spiffing- check out there eyes- it will give it away!

When Apple's mother returns after eleven years away, Apple feels whole again. But just like the stormy Christmas Eve when she left, her mother's homecoming is bittersweet. It's only when Apple meets someone more lost than she is that she begins to see things as they really are.

A story about sad endings.
A story about happy beginnings.A story to make you realise who is special.