...innovative and insightful... couldnt wait to devour part two - Times Educational Supplement
I will unashamedly admit that when I began reading The Boy Who Made It Rain, I was utterly flabbergasted. I began reading it early in the morning and I didnt put it down until I had finished it that evening, and though its only 196 pages long, this is perhaps one of the most compelling novels Ive ever read.
The premise of the book is of the relocation of a family from Eastbourne to Glasgow, and of the stigma faced by the son as he tries to settle into the local school. Interestingly, Conaghan initiates the novel in a series of first person interviews with several (seven in fact) characters. This automatically initiates a much stronger relationship with the text because the multiple first-person perspectives allow a great deal of empathy and understanding to develop for each character very rapidly.
Very early on, it becomes apparent that Conaghan is building up to something, his interviews taking on the shape of statements. Each statement is crafted to be long enough to build up the picture just a little bit more, to give just a little more away, but not enough to say with any certainty the final outcome. And this is the crux: long before you finish the first half of the novel with the characters statements, to move onto the second half concerning the protagonists recollection of events, you have a horrible inkling of whats going to happen. Grim inevitability coupled with fantastic word-craft is what makes you turn those pages, and Conaghan does not disappoint... When you turn that last page I guarantee you will feel numb with shock. - Heffers Review, Cambridge
Brilliant writing, brilliant structure, brilliant book - Des Dillon, author of Me and Ma Gal
... definitely up there with the modern classics - What? Magazine
A Must-Read for Teens and Adults: The Boy Who Made It Rain is an innovative novel that will keep you glued to the story until you turn the last page and learn the final outcome. - Fran Lewis, New York Reviewer.
Told from different points of view, Brian Conaghans THE BOY WHO MADE IT RAIN, shows what happens when a boy finds himself in a strange school, the target of many other kids and as well as vicious rumors, and the resulting violence that occurs.
This is no fantasy kids can be vicious just remember the names you used to call your friends, rumors you would hear, how easy it was to make someone a scapegoat. Of course bullying is not isolated to kids we see it clearly in domestic and international politics on a grand scale.
Brian Conaghan uses mounting suspense and an ironic ending to show us not only the consequences of violence, but its utter uselessness as well.
THE BOY WHO MADE IT RAIN is a valuable, gripping read - Bill Baker, Educator, USA
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