Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan
Published by Bloomsbury, 2014
When Apple was a very young child her mother disappeared on Christmas Eve. Leaving for Hollywood she left her daughter in the care of her loving but strict Nan. Eleven years on she’s back and thing’s aren’t as Apple expected.
Apple has waited patiently for this day and couldn’t be more excited when her mother presents her with all she ever yearned for: a home of their own. She wastes no time packing her bags. She has everything she ever wished for, or has she? Apple learns life doesn’t always turn out as we want it to.
She has to cope with all the common teenage disappointments: being excluded by a best friend, being bullied, teenage crushes, as well as dealing with her mother's return and she must begin growing into a relationship with a little sister whom she never knew existed.
As her new life becomes more and more difficult, Apple takes comfort in poetry, inspired by a new teacher. Through this medium she finds a way of expressing her feelings and also discovers a new talent. When her little sister Rain gets lost she realizes it’s not easy for adults either. Her Nana has been over protective because she’s loved her so much and her Mum has behaved as she has, because she’s been unhappy herself and still needs time to sort out her own life.
Apple and Rain is a touching story about family and growing up.
Sarah Crossan’s first published novel, The Weight of Water, won numerous prizes and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal award.
