Unicorns in the Rain

by Barbara Cohen

An invitation from a stranger on a train takes Nikki to unicorns and the boarding of an ark.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Unicorns, Dystopia, Young Adult Fantasy

164 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1980

About the author

Barbara Cohen (1932-1992) was the author of several acclaimed picture books and novels for young readers, including The Carp in the Bathtub, Yussel's Prayer: A Yom Kippur Story, Thank You, Jackie Robinson, and King of the Seventh Grade.

Reviews

[Wendy Bousfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little gem of a book is a retelling of the Noah story, set in a dystopian world uncomfortably close to our own. Nikki, a college student with the ability to communicate with animals, is on a filthy train, on her way to spend Thanksgiving with a grandmother who does not want her. Nikki’s mother is traveling with a boy friend. Nikki’s uncaring family could, of course, occur in our reality; but details slowly accumulate suggesting that this is an alternate world, or the near future. Nikki has been shaped by a society in which everyone wears guns and helmets for protection, mood-altering pills are sold openly, and the environment is degraded. Nikki takes as human self-interest as a given: in her world, no one feels responsible for anyone else.

A handsome man, Sam, sits down next to her. When he asks her to visit his family, Nikki impulsively accepts, having no better alternative. Waiting at the station for Sam’s brother to pick them up, Nikki is shocked when Sam rescues an elderly couple from a gang attack. Never before has Nikki met anyone who cared about the safety of others.

At Sam’s home, Nikki meets Sam’s parents, brothers, and their wives. She learns that the patriarch is building an ark because God has told him that he must repopulate the human and animal world after a deluge. Nikki believes the family is crazy, but stays because her attraction to Sam and to the family’s vast menagerie. Because of her rapport with animals, Nikki helps give shots to the bears. She is especially drawn to a pair of unicorns, realizing that the female’s is distressed because her foal is not with her. Without a loving family, having never met a man who regarded her as more than a one-night stand, Nikki is redeemed by the love of Sam and his family. Events unfold as in Genesis.

Though it embodies an environmentalist and social justice message, UNICORNS’ great strength is in its understatement. The book is a mirror in which we see, only slightly exaggerated, our own trend toward narcissism, violence, and indifference toward the beings with which we share the planet.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, it's still good, even though I'm 34 now, and it really was better than the other stuff I was reading at the time. I can definitely tell why it blew me away at 13 and, though it didn't quite hit as hard this time, I still liked it.

Misremembered the plot a little. Completely missed some of the world-building the first time; I didn't realize this wasn't quite our world, probably because I didn't have enough life experience to know the difference. Sex and drug references a little heavy-handed; I think that's an eighties problem novel thing.

Real review to come--this is just initial thoughts.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cover of this book, not to mention the title, makes it sound a bit twee, but it's most definitely not. It's dystopic, thought-provoking, sad, perhaps a little poignant, and it's one of those books that seems to stay with you, leaving footprints in your mind that don't fade with time. I first read it maybe 20+ years ago and still revisit it on a regular basis; it doesn't have quite the same impact now, since I know what happens at the end, but it still works its magic on me every time. It's not fast-paced or action-driven, there are no car chases or murders or last-minute saves, and yet the author maintains a consistent sense of tension -- not quite fear, but uneasiness -- that draws you in and lures you on. She paints a vivid and convincing portrait of a society in decay, suffering a sort of slow rot; the main character, adrift figuratively at the beginning and literally at the end, is believable and and Cohen makes you share her feelings of desperation and grief.

Funny, writing this makes me want to go read it again. Guess I know what I'm doing this afternoon :)

It's pretty straightforward in plot and storyline, and is interesting and compelling enough to hold the interest of younger kids. There is some mention of drugs and casual sex but it's pretty tame and is presented in a negative light, so there's little to object to there. More upsetting to some kids might be the couple of animals that die (surprise, it's not a dog this time!) Older/adult readers will pick up on deeper meanings. So the best kind of book: something for the kids AND the grownups!

[P.M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

It didn't take me long to realize that this is not our world. I had never read a re-imagining of Noah and his ark before. If there is any out there like this one, I never will.

[Mary Lockett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's the thing....this is not a kids book. My 10 year old daughter found this book in the kids section of the local library and wanted to use it as her evening read. She asked me to read her the first bit and as I went along I came across discussion of drugs and sex. I would agree that it is a young adult book, but should not be in the kids section of the library. I stopped reading it to my daughter, but decided to finish it for myself. The story idea is a great one, but not very well written. A quick easy read to leave you thinking.

[Juno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in about the 5th grade a loved it and remembered it so powerfully that I finally tracked down a copy last year and then couldn't bring myself to read it incase it wasn't what I recalled.
It's short, almost a vignette, but still emotionally powerful.
I think I'm giving it an extra star for adolescent memory though.

[Shaindel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book when I was about twelve or thirteen, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Obviously, because it is over thirty years later, and I hunted it down via interlibrary loan to read it again now in my forties to see if it was as magical as I remembered. It's a futuristic or modern dystopian retelling of the biblical story of Noah's Ark. I remember when I first read this book, I was so amazed by it. How did that author *do* that? I wanted to be able to do that -- take a story I had heard somewhere before and retell it, make it my own -- and I think this book is probably a big reason why I became a writer.

I do want to warn readers that it was written in a different era, and there are some insensitive moments that would probably not appear in books now, but this is really a beautifully written novel. I have since learned that Barbara Cohen wrote other books that are retellings of bible stories and want to read those as well.

[Chloe Janik · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ight. Cute little quick read

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

More than I thought it would be.

[Jennifer Wyffels · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favorites from my childhood. I still read it from time to time to. Detailed descriptions, great visualization, interesting plot.

[Michelle Barkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nostalgic re-read.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in middle school & was happy to re read it. Somehow the story always struck me after so long. I noticed more gaps as an adult but still enjoyed it.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this years ago and it made an impression. Fascinating look at the story of Noah.

[Jessie Dwyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read, original, complex.

[P.M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

It didn't take me long to realize that this is not our world. I had never read a re-imagining of Noah and his ark before. If there is any out there like this one, I never will.

[Pamela Bronson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book. It's sad and scary but especially hopeful.

It's unique.

[Michelle Llewellyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I cannot write a faithful review of this book because I read it over twenty years ago from my Washington County public library. All I could remember it being about was a freaky, weird story (dystopian teen fiction was pretty scarce back in 1990!) set in the future and the very last page where the girl is about to get on the biblical ark with her new boyfriend and cries for the forlorn unicorns getting left behind. Or maybe she was crying because she would miss hot showers. This was one of those stories I couldn't recall the title of I just remembered thinking it was really weird and not really my genre until I was browsing the children's literature section of the University of Utah library for the last time before graduation. I was glad to finally check this forgotten young adult sci-fi title off my "What was the name of that book?" list! I didn't check it out that day so I could re-read it and have no plans to purchase a used Amazon copy and add it to my own library. I remember it being just an OK read. There's a reason this book is out of print so if your local library has a copy, great, read it and try to remember the title!

[Rhode PVD · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bitter and sad re-telling of Noah's Ark, from the point of view of a young woman in a world that was the worst 1970s doomsayers imagined we could turn into - sex from age 12, everyone on drugs, women working outside the home, and teens turned into gangs of roving violent killers. Also passenger trains are shoddy.

Also, the ‘good’ people who we are meant to admire because they are beautiful, thin, and living in a scrupulously clean home and beautiful, from our 21st century perspective seem more like a cult trying to snag young women to breed to their sons than the saviors of life on earth who can hear god. Creeepy.

This is probably a good book if you want to see inside the head of upper middle class people like the author who were distressed by hippies, etc in the 1970s.

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I originally read this book when I was 12 or so. I found it at the library, took it home and read it one setting. I remember it making me ugly cry. For years, I thought I made the book up because I couldn’t find it anywhere. Then, I finally decided to look it up at the library.

Reading it as an adult, I’m sad to say it didn’t hold up as well as I had hoped. Very little character development and a very rushed storyline. The writing is lacking as well. Despite all that, those darn unicorns made me sad and I think that is why this book stuck with me all those years.

[Ms_Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't want to rate this book. It has taken all of the years I've had internet searching to finally today track it down. As I child I was told that a great many books in the house were off limits until I was 30. For better or worse I figured well may as well read them now. Parts of this book destroyed me. There are scenes of animal brutality that I have never recovered from in these pages. I have no idea as to the plot anymore, but certain moments are seared forever in my mind's eye. I'm sure this book has some merit as dystopian fiction, but it is not one for my shelves.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the sheer number of books I read, it's often hard to remember just what a book was about or what my impressions of it were. This book stuck with me. I can still remember parts of the story as if I saw it in movie form... And just hearing the title still makes me contemplate the events in the story.

It's basically a modern-day Noah's ark, with unicorns in it. A bit weird and sad and... thought-provoking.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this off the library shelf in junior high and then couldn't figure out what book it was for the next 23 or so years. But a LiveJournal community called _What Was That Book_ helped me find it again and I'm thrilled!

A young adult novel about the family that was collecting the animals for the ark, and the culture around it. It's creative. It's thought-provoking. I read it in a night, and I'm so glad to have found it again.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found it in the 'teenscape' section of my library back in the day, and bits of it stayed with me for years. It was one of the books that got under my skin and though I couldn't remember the title or author for almost two decades (thanks internet!), once I found it again the cover was IMMEDIATELY recognizable. I haven't read it since I was 12, so I'd want to track it down again before really reviewing it.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It is the only book I've ever read which, upon completion, I started again immediately. I was much younger when I first read it, and I was very taken with the notion that we are merely repeating ourselves, with slight variations each time. Reading it again, older, I find that I am also quite taken with the understated way Cohen deals with faith and epiphany. I wish there were more of it.

[Tama · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this one because it is one of the choices on my son's reading list for Freshman English. I have to say I did not care for the story. It was easy to read, but not very interesting to me.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as a young teen and still love it.

[James Jordan]

Read this in elementary school but the imagery is ever present in my mind thirty years later.