Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

Rain, 11, knows that only a quarter of marriages survive a child's death; she's determined to make her parents "one out of four."The family members mourn separately. Rain's burdened by guilt over the loss of her teenage brother, Guthrie; her dad's withdrawn, angry, and depressed; her mom, briskly efficient, has forced a fresh start, finding a job in New York, where Rain must finish sixth grade 288 miles away from her old school in Vermont. Rain misses her best friend and the track team. Their new apartment is tiny; Frankie, the Dominican super's daughter, is unfriendly; the urban density's overwhelming. Her family is white and doesn't speak Spanish, and their new neighborhood is a Latinx one. The only place Rain spots other light-skinned people is at the trendy cafe where they sip espresso. Through community-service projects, a school requirement, Rain slowly finds her footing. The track coach recruits her to run the 100-meter relay with Frankie, Amelia, and Ana for a city meet—that's scheduled on the anniversary of Guthrie's death. Realistic explorations of how grief divides a struggling family and gentrification erodes a community are balanced by the love and friendship among these diverse characters. Rain likes to count things and loathes dresses. Like Frankie and her friend who's moved away, Rain might be gender nonconforming. Amelia stutters; Nestor might be homeless; Casey dislikes being touched. Each is seen whole.Timely, well-integrated themes, a vibrant setting, and well-drawn, likable characters—the diversity's unlabeled, but it's there—make this a winner. (Fiction. 8-12)

ALA Booklist

It has been almost a year since that night, and Rain's family needs a new start in a totally new town. Rain's new neighbor and classmate, Frankie, is chilly at first, until Rain realizes she's taken the place of Frankie's best friend, Reggie, in her home, her classroom desk, and even her place on the track team. However, Frankie respects Rain as a runner and introduces her to Ms. Dacie, who runs a makeshift teen center. When she learns Ms. Dacie's funding has been cut, she puts all her efforts into a fund-raising project in hopes of ignoring the sorry state of her homelife: her mother pretends everything is OK, while her father can barely get out of bed, and Rain is weighed down by the fact that she's been keeping a secret since that night e night her brother died. Stoddard has written a beautiful story about a resilient girl many readers will be able to relate to, and she gently hits on tough topics, such as death and divorce, in a tender and truthful manner.

Horn Book (Mon Feb 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Still actively grieving her brother's accidental death, Rain and her parents make a radical change, leaving Vermont for New York City's Washington Heights. Rain adapts to sixth grade in a new school, joins a track team, and meets new friends. Her efforts to keep her parents from splitting up fail, but Rain's personal strength grows throughout this beautifully written contemporary novel.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Rain, 11, knows that only a quarter of marriages survive a child's death; she's determined to make her parents "one out of four."The family members mourn separately. Rain's burdened by guilt over the loss of her teenage brother, Guthrie; her dad's withdrawn, angry, and depressed; her mom, briskly efficient, has forced a fresh start, finding a job in New York, where Rain must finish sixth grade 288 miles away from her old school in Vermont. Rain misses her best friend and the track team. Their new apartment is tiny; Frankie, the Dominican super's daughter, is unfriendly; the urban density's overwhelming. Her family is white and doesn't speak Spanish, and their new neighborhood is a Latinx one. The only place Rain spots other light-skinned people is at the trendy cafe where they sip espresso. Through community-service projects, a school requirement, Rain slowly finds her footing. The track coach recruits her to run the 100-meter relay with Frankie, Amelia, and Ana for a city meet—that's scheduled on the anniversary of Guthrie's death. Realistic explorations of how grief divides a struggling family and gentrification erodes a community are balanced by the love and friendship among these diverse characters. Rain likes to count things and loathes dresses. Like Frankie and her friend who's moved away, Rain might be gender nonconforming. Amelia stutters; Nestor might be homeless; Casey dislikes being touched. Each is seen whole.Timely, well-integrated themes, a vibrant setting, and well-drawn, likable characters—the diversity's unlabeled, but it's there—make this a winner. (Fiction. 8-12)