Rain, Reign, Ann Martin. Rose Weldon is a fifth grade autistic girl that has her own school para pro and is a collector of homonyms. In her notebook of alphabetized homonyms, she leaves blank spaces for new additions; however, if there is not enough space to add a new pair or trio, she starts the entire list over again. Rose lives with her dad, who gets impatient with her perseverations and obsession for following rules. Her mom left years ago, but her adoring uncle takes her to school each day and picks her up. One day, her dad brings home a stray dog that he found and Rose names him Rain/Reign because he was found in the rain. They become inseparable.

Hurricane Susan is approaching and the community begins to prepare. She comes with a vengeance: closing school, knocking out bridges, falling trees, but all survive. In the middle of repairing the damages, Rose's dad lets Rain out but forgets to bring her back in. Rose doesn't understand how he could do that . . . and without her collar for identification. She creates a plan for locating her by identifying all the animal shelters within a several mile radius of home and calling each one. Days and days pass. Finally, a shelter has a dog that fits Rain's description; however, when Rose and her uncle get to the shelter and identify her, they learn that Rain is actually named Olivia due to a microchip planted by her "real" owners. Being the rule follower that she is, she sets out to find Rain's true owners.

The author pulls at the reader's heartstrings with tenderness. Do we want Rose to find Rain's real owner? Aren't we happy that Rain and Rose have one another? Will Rain want her previous owner more than Rose? Will Rain's previous owner see the love between Rose and Rain? The ending brings surprises, tears and smiles. Be prepared to fall in love.

Zane and the Hurricane: A Story of Katrina, Rodman Philbrick. After Zane's mother does some digging to learn that his late father has a grandmother in New Orleans, he and his dog, Bandy, fly down to stay with her. Zane warms to Grammy immediately and hopes to learn how his father died. But, Hurricane Katrina is fast approaching so they leave town on the preacher's bus. When Bandy jumps out the window, with Zane fast on his heels, they end back up at Grammy's house, with the storm licking at their heels. When water begins to drown the house, they must escape to the attic, with only a vent for hope. Along come Malvina and Tru in a canoe to rescue them. What follows is their harrowing experience through stink, filth, danger and death. Although familiar with the horrors of Hurricane Katrina, this story takes the reader to the heart of the devastation: poverty, race, drugs, crime.

Philbrick, author of Freak the Mighty, does not disappoint with his latest book. Prepare readers for a dialect for which they may not be familiar (truth = troot, that = dat, darling = dawlin).