Rain Is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith

I found Rain Is Not My Indian Name on a list of diverse books. I shouldn't have been surprised that it was by Cynthia Leitich Smith. I've been a fan of her books for a while now. I'm so glad I picked Rain Is Not My Indian Name up. Though a slim book, it was a wonderful story with fantastic characters.

Rain is grieving the loss of her best friend and her mom. Rain doesn't think she has much to offer the world. She's not pretty. Galen, her best friend, understood her and without him, she's alone. Rain retreats into her own world. Preferring to stay home and clean than to socialize with other kids.  But when her aunt starts a camp for Native kids, Rain offers to take photos for her brother's girlfriend's newspaper. Slowly, Rain leaves her own world and realizes that the rest of the world has been waiting for her to come back.

I loved Rain. She's thoughtful, artistic, and innocent. She's just finding her way in the world and still so unsure of who she is. I also loved that she was mixed and talked about how she felt about that. I also enjoyed the other people in Rain's world. Her brother and his girlfriend are patient with Rain and wait til she is ready to talk about her losses but they also encourage her to go back to things she enjoyed like photography.This would be a great book for teens.

Another great book from Cynthia Leitich Smith. I would highly recommend Rain Is Not My Indian Name. Others who shared their thoughts on Rain Is Not My Indian Name: The Cazzy Files, gr8 reads, Kim's Book Reviews, and Reading In Color.