This was a beautifully written YA novel that focused on friendship and turmoil through a classic coming-of-age narrative. I think the book maybe better for older and more mature "young readers", more 13+, rather than 10+ due to some of the content surrounding the brother's instagram account. The cover implies a younger audience than would be appropriate, but for the right teen this will be a moving read that could be used by parents or teachers to provoke discussion on some sensitive topics.

Have not had a chance to read this yet, but will keep it on my list for a rainy day! Appreciate being offered the reading copy!

I'm very familiar with Jane Godwin's picture books - I've been using a lot of them throughout remote learning this year with my young students - but I had yet to try some of her novels, and I'm sure the cover of this book drew me to it, because it is a striking cover that makes it feel a touch magical.

When Rain Turns to Snow follows Lissa, a young teen who's at home by herself after school one day and discovers a boy, Reed, and a baby on her porch. Reed's on the run with the baby, his niece, and he's convinced that he's connected to Lissa's family and wants her help to try and uncover the connection, and it needs to be done quickly, because the baby he's looking after isn't well. His appearance stirs up a lot of secret histories in Lissa's family - things that make everyone uncomfortable - at a difficult time.

It took me a while to get into the flow of this book. Once I was, I was hooked, and I really wanted to know the connection between Lissa and Reed, and to make sure that Mercy, the baby, recovered. I don't know whether it was the digital review copy I received, but the majority of the story is told from Lissa's perspective, but there are tiny paragraphs at the end of each chapter told from someone else's perspective - we learn who, eventually - but it stopped a lot of the flow of the story for me.

I think When Rain Turns to Snow is an ambitious book - it tackles a lot of difficult and challenging topics (a lot of which are spoilers so I won't be specific here) particularly around blended families and how families come into being. (There's also mention of past/recovered cancer within the family, too, so keep that in mind.) But not only do you have Lissa and Reed's story, but also Reed's family story - his brother who has a drug addiction and parents who could no longer cope with that - and the story of Lissa's brother who's currently in the midst of a particularly nasty social media bullying scheme, and the toxic friendships.  All of it does tie together in the end to show where the strands meet, but it is a lot all at once and sometimes it felt like too much.

That said, the connection I felt to Lissa and Reed and Mercy was fantastic. The two teens are trying to be adults despite their young age, and shoulder the burdens of their families. Lissa is learning to identify when her friends are helpful, and when they're really not friends at all, and how to support her brother who she loves and adores, and how to love her mother and new partner, and her father and his new wife. Reed is on the run and trying to look after a baby and trying to figure out who he is. They're both endearing characters who want to find where they belong in their world and amongst their family.

While it wasn't a perfect book for me, it was definitely one that I don't regret reading and I'm very eager to try other novels by Jane Godwin in the future. I think it packs a huge punch for such a short story and there are so many great themes in there.

When Rain Turns to Snow
Author: Jane Godwin
Genre: YA Contemporary
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
Reviewed: Maya

This is a really light, quick coming-of-age read that deals with some serious topics, such as cyber bullying and family relations. Lissa is a really likeable character, and I really loved that the book was told from her POV. I loved the Australian, well, everything! Aussie author, Aussie characters, typical Aussie lifestyle and set around Melbourne. I really loved the mentions and discussions about climate change and the climate change marches because it added to the Australian teen characters. The pacing of the book was done very well; not too fast or too slow. I really wanted for there to be more of a discussion around Lissa’s brother, Harry, who plays a large part in the storyline. There was a certain something (which I am not going to spoil), which was only hinted at and I think it would have worked better for it to go into more depth about. The ending was predictable for me and although I liked seeing the characters happy, happy endings aren’t my favourite. At times, I did feel like the book was a bit younger and would appeal more to an audience in Year/Grade Eight or below. I would recommend this book to people who want a light read about real-life issues.

ARC received through the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This book was absolutely beautiful. With family at its core, it was difficult not the fall in love with Jane Godwin's novel, When Rain Turns To Snow.

The book follows a young year 8 girl, Lissa as she discovers a young boy at her doorstep carrying a sickly baby and claiming to be related. Reed has run away from home trying to find answers about who he really is and believes that Lissa's mother, Fiona Freeman is the key to uncovering them. As Reed and Lissa attempt to discover the truth, the pair uncover some secrets about their past in ways they never could imagine.

This being the first book I have ever read of the author's, I was pleasantly surprised by how light it felt. Although dealing with some (at times) dark themes, the tone of the book made it more appealing to a younger majority of readers. It was the light storytelling that really contributed to my rating, it uncovered things bit by bit and I never found the pacing too fast or too slow.

I thought that with those aforementioned points, Godwin was able to create characters that perfectly fit into this typical Australian landscape. The characters were believable and I could definitely tell they were teenagers. A nice touch was with both Reed's and Lissa's involvement in environmental/climate change rallies. I found it quite interesting and unique that Godwin decided to put that spin onto the two of them. The involvement of teenagers in political issues has barely been portrayed in novels, even young adult ones (with teenagers at the forefront). I found that this book really highlighted the distress and fear caused by political issues such as global warming or terrorism. Reed was shown to be highly alert to the happenings of the world around him and I really felt for his character. For a 13 year old boy, he already has been through so much, not just in terms of his solastalgia, but the emotional turmoil he has been through to discover his own personal truths and how his life would play out with this new knowledge.

On the contrary to Reed's character, Lissa I suppose, was likable. I enjoyed reading from her perspective however, I was constantly questioning how come she didn't do certain thing earlier. For example, what was stopping her from confronting her mother? Why didn't she try to get an adult to help Mercy? throughout the story I must admit I was getting a bit frustrated at her. This however died down as piece by piece of the story's narrative came together and the resolution came full circle.

Although the story was mainly focused on the 'Reed' storyline, there was also a subplot with Harry, Lissa's brother, who has been accused of sharing nudes of some year 8 girls on social media. That storyline was tied up too but I must admit I did see the ending coming from the start. If there was to be a sequel novel, I would love it to have a focus on Harry especially since he was my favourite character and I would love to find more about him after the events of When Rain Turns To Snow.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book and definitely recommend it to younger YA readers who are looking for their next contemporary read.

ACTUAL RATING: 4 STARS

I loved this book, but for me, whose main market is schools, it was a tricky one to put an age on.

This book is a marketed as a YA, and as I started reading it, I was thinking that maybe it would be a good choice for ages 11+, as the main character is 13. A rule of thumb, I have found, is that most young readers read books where the characters are a few years older than themselves. As I progressed further into the book, I realised that this really is for a 13+ readership.

Lissa is navigating being back at school without her best friend, who has moved away. She begins to realise that the girls' she thinks of as friends, are not actually very nice. Her older brother is having trouble at school, and he's keeping very secretive about it. Her parents are divorced, and her Dad is having a new baby. And then Reed, a boy only just older that Lissa, turns up on her doorstep with a baby (his niece) claiming that Lissa's Mum is also his biological mother.

There's a lot going on, and it's an emotional read. As an adult reading this, I was so worried about the baby, it was a very cold winter, and sleeping in a shed, with very little food was not conducive to a healthy baby. I will be interested to see how the target audience feel when reading it.

We do learn what's been happening to Lissa's bother, and this is where some more mature themes emerge,
such as sending and receiving inappropriate photos , and the general attitude towards/and treatment of girls by a group of teenage boys.

More than anything though, this book is about family, in all of its forms.

A beautifully simple but impacting story for teens and adults alike which celebrates family and friendships in all their broken, complicated glory. When Lissa makes a startling discovery outside her home, she is led down a path that reveals the truth of her own origins, and challenges the relationships in her life. I found her grappling with circumstances out of her control to be endearing and inspiring, and felt every emotion and ultimate triumph.

The themes of cyber bullying, the challenge of navigating a world drenched in social media, and the pressure of our peers, were artfully woven into the story. I'd recommend this one to mature upper primary readers and high schoolers, as well as adults who need a heartwarming reminder that while we can't always control the outcomes of people's choices, we can love each other fearlessly through every situation.

Representation: Harry (main character’s brother) is gay.

Book content warnings: Bullying, online bullying/trolling, sexism, written depiction of a 13 year old girl sending a nude to a 17 year old boy, talk of drug addiction.

*

This book had me hooked from the very first page.

Thirteen year old Lissa has a love for words, and I found myself learning some new ones as I read along, too, which is always nice.

Lissa seems a bit lost at the start of the book – her best friend has moved away, and she’s feeling a bit alone. Her brother, Harry, is grumpy and moody all of the time, and her mum has got herself a new boyfriend, leaving Lissa quite alone.

Then Reed appears on her back porch, sopping wet from the rain. And he has a baby in his arms, too. Mercy is Reed’s niece to his older brother, but Reed couldn’t leave her with him where she was being neglected. Reed was running away to find out answers to who is birth mother was, having just discovered he’s adopted, and he brings Mercy with him.

But it is winter, and it’s cold, so Mercy gets incredibly sick.

Reed is on the hunt for answers, and he believes that either Lissa’s mum is his, too, which makes Lissa question so many things.

Amidst all of this, Lissa’s brother, Harry, is the target of some online Instagram trolling where he is being labelled the perpetrator of a page that posts nudes of year 8 girls. But Lissa is determined that it isn’t Harry running this page, but no one will believe her.

The entire time I was reading this, I was so caught up in what was happening that when I was forced to go to sleep, I dreamt about what was going to happen next.

As a friend said, it was so nice to read about characters walking past Coles and on their way to Chemist Warehouse – two very Aussie locations. The fact that these things were thrown in made me feel right at home in the book.

I was already going to recommend this book to anyone 12 years and over, but given the social media trolling part that is in the book, I highly recommend this book to anyone with an internet presence. There are some fantastic things online, but there are also things to be wary about, and this book deals with that topic very well, I thought.

This was an easy 4.5/5 stars for me.

When Rain Turns to Snow by Jane Godwin comes out at the end of this month. It follows 13 year old Lissa as she tries to help a stranger who turns up on her doorstep one day, and in the process discovers some hidden truths about her and her family.
I have mixed feelings about this book. The book itself is well written, but the characters lacked some depth.
The story did grip me, and covers some important topics about cyber safety, growing up, and all the different kinds of family. I struggled a little with how the characters handle some if the situations and the way some were almost glossed over. I suspect this is a literary device designed to aid in portraying a story from a 13 year old girls point of view, focusing instead on things she found important, but it didn't work for me.
I gave it 3 stars but it is a well written book and might appeal to younger teens.

Lissa is home on her own after school one afternoon when a stranger turns up on the doorstep carrying a baby. Reed is on the run - surely people are looking for him? He's trying to find out who he really is and thinks Lissa's mum might have some answers. But how could he be connected to Lissa's family - and why has he been left in charge of a baby? A baby who is sick, and getting sicker ... Reed's appearance stirs up untold histories in Lissa's family, and suddenly she is having to make sense of her past in a way she would never have imagined.

It is so difficult to review a book when you have such mixed feelings about it! This book was a nice and easy read as it only took me a few hours to finish. The storyline was inventive and super interesting, however I don't think it was executed as well as it could have been. I found the dialogue a bit forced sometimes, and in my opinion, at times the narration was 'trying to hard' to sound like a young teenager. The character's reactions to certain events were also a bit unrealistic, I think that I would have enjoyed the story more if there was more raw emotion, as I really wanted to feel something! BUT I did enjoy this book! There was lots of different things going on, and I was super invested in some of the character's storylines. This book made me smile! And it also made me think about lots of different social issues. I would have loved for the story to go more into depth about mental health, and cyber bullying - those themes were definitely present in the book, but if the author delved further down that realm, it would have added another layer to the story.

I recommend this book to people for young teenagers and pre-teens, as I feel I may have enjoyed the book quite a lot if I read it a few years ago! I am excited to hear what other people's thoughts are, as I do feel that so many of the themes and elements presented in this book are so important.

I find it so interesting when you read a book and have really mixed feelings. It doesn’t happen very often for me but in this case, it did, and it’s quite complicated ~ in a good way.

Huge thanks to Hachette Australia for sending me this eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book comes out on June 30th and I sincerely hope that you guys do give it a read to make up your own opinion about this one.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5/5)

In this novel, we follow Lissa, a young 13-year-old girl in high school who is navigating a lot of stuff when it comes to friendship, family and understanding yourself better in the social and personal context. She meets Reed, a runaway boy with a baby who is trying to find his birth mother and thinks that it’s actually Lissa’s mum from an email she sent a decade ago. While trying to sort that out, she’s trying to understand what’s going on with her brother and figuring out her friendships at school after her best friend moved to WA.

First things first, I think the biggest word that comes to mind when thinking of this book is that it’s important.

I found it quite hard to read it at the beginning because the writing style wasn’t really for me; it wasn’t super descriptive with a lot of statements and a strange lack of emotion from the protagonist and it was SO Australian – something I’m not usually a huge fan of. As someone who grew up in Australia, it always seems so jarring and would likely make it a little confusing for other people who don’t understand or recognise certain slang, pieces of distinct Australian culture and specific geographical locations.

It was certainly not the typical YA contemporary. This book seriously gave me the vibes of a middle grade rather than a young adult book. It felt like a book I would be forced to read in English at Lissa’s age in Year 7 or Year 8 of high school, and that was a big negative for me until I kept reading. As the story progressed, I realised why the author has written the book this way ~ this book is literally intended for readers around Lissa’s age and I began to gain an understanding of how impactful that really is.

I began to imagine myself as a 13-year-old reading this in school and started to see this book address so many topics that have become so relevant and important for young people to read about. The themes of dealing with cyberbullying, figuring out your friendships (in that you can actually choose your friends and shouldn’t let yourself be beat down by bullies), of the importance of family, whether you’re biologically related to them or not, and also just the theme of ‘coming of age’ that we see so often but in a different, more juvenile execution for that younger target audience.

The book seemed to take character development in a different way. I don’t think the story was even about whether I liked Lissa and Reed much as protagonists and how they both grew, the story was more about their growth based on the consequences to their actions. Something pretty important for young people to read about!

Towards the end of the novel, I couldn’t stop reading because I felt that this book was so important and that I wished I had read it when I was that age. Another thing that stood out to me was the concept of responsibility, a young kid like Reed shouldn’t be responsible to take care of a baby and I really loved that the novel emphasised that throughout the story. I hate the idea that kids are growing up before they should, that they’re more worried about their social status online than actually being a kid and having fun, and this contemporary felt slightly hard-hitting in that way. The writing style started to feel more poetic and meaningful in other ways than the traditional YA contemporaries I’ve read in the past.

Despite a slow beginning, this book felt quite avant-garde and unprecedented in its ability to really dig deeper into what young teenagers face today. Even though it wasn’t the typical tear-jerker or heartbreaking contemporary novel, I could really see its value and really hope that more kids in early high school do get the chance to read this one, even if it’s deemed compulsory in English class.