Rain Is Not My Indian Name - Cynthia Leitich Smith, Lori Earley
Cassidy's best friend Galen dies and a few years before her mother died. For six months she completely shuts herself off from the world. She doesn't go out, she doesn't talk to people and doesn't take pictures.Then summer comes and her brother wants her to go to the Indian camp that her aunt is doing, but Cassidy doesn't really want to go. Instead, she gets a job taking pictures for the local paper's article about Indian camp.Cassidy deals with learning to cope with Galen's death and learning about her Native heritage.This book deals with the issue of death and learning to cope with it, and embracing ones own heritage and culture. I think Cassidy is a really relatable character. Cassidy feels like more than just a character from a book, she feels like someone real, someone you might even know. And What she goes through in the book is are things I believe many could relate to, whether it is the death of a parent, a friend or the longing to know more about your family.I really love this book; I love the way the words flowed together and the overall feeling I had while reading this book. But while I do love this book, I felt it was too short. There was so much left unanswered and some things left unresolved. I would like to get another view into Rain's life and see how things are going for her. I doubt there will be a sequel, but I can hope.Overall, I love this book and it makes me excited to read other books by this author.