Drizzle : Book Review

“If you ask Mom, she would say God. If you ask Dad, he would say its science, of course. Grandmom though was like me...its magic.” But in reality, nobody knows why it rains at one-o-clock every Monday of why the rhubarb tastes like chocolate at Rupert’s World-Famous Rhubarb Farm, Polly Peabody’s home. Polly, in Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve, has never been much of a detective but when the rain stops and her brother gets deathly ill, she jumps to the case. She must find courage as she immerses herself in a tangle of lies and unspoken secrets. With the help of Bastford, her only human friend; Spark, a blue dragonfly; Harry, a chocolate rhubarb plant; and Lester, a giant fluffy cricket, Polly embarks on a journey to find her true self and possibly save the farm and her brother. On her journey, Polly is forced to face two of her greatest fears; bugs and a shed.

Polly, a young naïve girl, is forced to face her fears when the rain stops. She must leave her childhood frights and emerge from fear to fight against it. Her brother, Freddy, was always there to protect her. Now, with her brother in a coma, there’s no one to comfort and protect Polly. She realizes that in order to save her brother, she has to do something, not just wait around. The book Drizzle shouts a strong message, overcoming your fears can be very powerful. At the beginning of the novel, Polly has a huge bug-phobia. When any bug flies at her, she screams and hides. At the end of the story, Polly gains more confidence and actually befriends two odd bugs; Spark and Lester. She is also able to enter the shed after many late night noises had awaken her. Her brother helps inflect this change. Before he was sick, he would comfort her by saying “‘these are the pretty ones [dragonflies], remember?’ He would then wink at her and remind her that dragonflies were nothing to be scared of. Even when he was sick, he provided motivation. To keep herself going, when she was forced to go into the silo (shed), Polly thinks of him. “The image of Freddy asleep in the hospital spurs me [Polly] on and I pick up the pace.” By overcoming her fears, Polly is able to step forward and unlock a magical power that just might save the farm and her brother. No longer does Polly feel powerless. Now she knows she can do everything.

Kathleen Van Cleve weaves Drizzle into a fantastic book with very unique ideas. I love the original and different story. Her imagination creates a tale that I simply could not put down. Page after page, I wondered if the story could get any better but it does. I admired the way she paints each scene using figurative language and sensory details. It would be fun to be able to write like Van Cleve As soon as I opened the book, I stepped through a portal to another world. For example, when Polly is thinking about a bad thing she did, the author writes “I have no way to absorb the return of the river, the ocean of shame that floods through me.” I could relate to the comparison of a river or ocean to Polly’s feelings. Van Cleve creates a masterpiece that excites the reader from start to finish. A must read for anyone who enjoys magic with a twist.