Photo by Elena Bittner, 5Bf, June 2017
Crossan, Sarah: Apple and Rain
Buchtipps | Englische Bücher
13-year-old Apple lives in England with her grandmother. Her mother left them one Christmas Eve eleven years earlier. Apple hopes every day that she will return, and one day she really does. Against her grandmother’s wish, Apple decides to move in with her mother because she seems pretty nice and not as strict as her grandmother. But it turns out she has another daughter, Rain, who is ten years old. At first they don’t get on well with each other, but when their mother leaves them alone at home more and more often, they get on much better.
But Apple has many problems at her mother’s place: Rain thinks that her doll is real, Apple falls out with her best and only friend, meets two very different boys she thinks she loves, and takes many days off school to look after her little sister, because her mum is trying to find a new job.
After a while Apple realizes that her grandmother was so strict because she protected and took care of her much more than her mother does. So she wants to go back to her granny’s, but she cannot leave Rain behind and is not sure, if her grandmother will forgive her and let her live with her again.
As a reader you realize much earlier than Apple that the mother doesn’t take care of her two daughters properly. Apple is dazzled by her mother’s flamboyant lifestyle which is just irresponsible, like having parties and allowing Apple to drink alcohol.
I enjoyed reading the book, although I am not much of a reader. The interaction between the two sisters is very interesting to follow. I would recommend the book to everyone who likes stories which focus on relationships between the characters rather than on suspense and action.
Crossan, Sarah: Apple and Rain
Pages: 329
Shelf mark: FE.J / CRO
Genre: family story
Topics: family, love, trust
Rating: ***
Review and photo by Elena Bittner, 5Bf, June 2017