The Year It Rained - Softcover

Grade 7-10 A whining child of 17 is the narrator of this self-serving novel. Elizabeth wallows in self-pity as she muses on her feelings of resentment toward her mother (a children's book editor), her various bouts in mental institutions and attempts at suicide, her kinky New York City private school and a rewarding sexual experience with a boy for whom she doesn't much care. Nowhere do readers gain any insight into why Elizabeth harbors such disdain and anger toward her mother, whose major fault seems to be that she loves her, or why she is so unhappy. What is obvious is the resentment Elizabeth feels at the attention her mother gives anyone else, even though it never seems to be at Elizabeth's expense. While Dragonwagon shows some talent for creating dialogue that rings true, and while a few of the scenes between mother and daughter have a certain amount of poignancy, as a whole it's all pretty boring, repetitious and lacking in insight. A downpour of emotions that's a washout. Trev Jones, "School Library Journal"
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