Dancing in the Rain

by Shelley Hrdlitschka

While struggling with the death of her beloved adoptive mother, sixteen-year-old Brenna reconnects with members of her biological family, hoping to discover why her biological mother broke off contact many years earlier. At the same time, she is falling in love with Ryan, who provides support while she grieves but has to leave her when she needs him most. Despite powerful feelings of abandonment, Brenna realizes that getting strong physically and focusing on the needs of others might just help her move beyond her crippling grief, find peace and plan a future for herself.

Dancing in the Rain continues the story that began in Shelley Hrdlitschka's bestselling Dancing Naked.

Genres: Young Adult

312 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2016

About the author

Shelley discovered her love for children’s literature while teaching school. This inspired her to write her own books, and she is now the author of eleven novels for teens, all published by Orca Book Publishers.

Shelley lives in North Vancouver, British Columbia. When she’s not reading or writing she can be found hiking, snowshoeing, practising yoga, Zumba dancing or hanging out with the grizzly bears at the Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife.

Reviews

[Karen Upper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dancing in the Rain is a sensitive portrayal that deals with loss, grief, adjustment, depression, frustration in many of the characters.
The central figure in the story, Breanna, finds herself going through a range of emotions at the loss of her mother.
Although Breanna is main figure, the reader is also given glimpses of how other family members and friends are affected by this death and their struggle to cope.
I found this book to be a real page turner from beginning to end and highly recommend this read!
Five Stars!!

[Stephanie (Gorelenore) Cover2CoverBlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dancing in the Rain is about a 16 year old girl dealing with the death of her adoptive mother. Brenna has a lot to deal with right now, her adoptive mother passed away, she id trying to decide if she wants to reconnect with her biological family, and there is a boy showing interest in her.

This book is actually a follow up to another, called Dancing Naked. That book is about Kia and her teen pregnancy - with Brenna, so this book now is following the daughter in her adoptive family and life. I did not read that first book but I don't think it is necessary as you get enough information from this one about Kia and her story to know about Brenna. However, if you are interested in Dancing Naked this may give you too much insight into that book.

I really enjoyed this story. Brenna is a very real character dealing with real emotions. I think I was reading this at the right time too since I have been dealing with a lot of emotions lately. Grief is so hard and this story shows Brenna's growth and adjustment as she deals with it. I love this character growth. There is also a romantic element as in most YA books but this one was not the complete focus as Brenna is dealing with other things too - I liked that as well.

If you enjoy contemporary and don't mind the possibility of a few tears, this one is for you.

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleased to win a copy of Dancing in the Rain by Shelley Hrdlitschka through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. This book did a good job of tackling many heavy topics including open adoption, loss of a parent and grief. Seventeen year old, Brenna, is still reeling from the loss of her mother to breast cancer a few months earlier. In addition her mother left her with the diary of her birth mother which Brenna has started to read after her mother's death. Learning she was adopted makes Brenna feel another sense of loss and struggling to make sense of her feelings. As she works to put her life back in order she meets a young man that works at the wildlife preserve where she works who helps who become emotionally strong by being more physically strong. I enjoyed this book as well as the characters especially Ryan and Brenna and am hoping that we will hear more about them in a future book.

[Andy Starowicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sad and romantic story for older middle school students. It is a story of death, grieving, and love. Brenna, the main character, loses her mother to cancer, and during the grieving process, finds the first love of her life. Brenna is faced with many obstacles in helping her family search for closure while at the same time she is searching for her real mother, who gave her up for adoption at birth.

While this story plot moves slowly at times, the novel is beautifully written with believable characters, a wonderful mountainous Canadian setting, and a conflict woven with emotional highs and lows. This is an excellent read for an eighth or ninth grade student.

[Kim Piddington · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character in this novel has a lot to juggle: her adoptive mother has just died, her sister is acting out, and she falls in love with the attractive Aussie who has to head home soon. On top of all that, she is considering whether or not to reconnect with her biological family. A page turner with a realistic and likable narrator.

[Mirha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such an adorable story. I really enjoyed reading it!

[Quinn Loves Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. I liked it even more than the last one and it took some interesting but brilliant turn that I was not expecting and it kept me on the edge of my seat!

[allie thurlby · Rating 4 out of 5]

i honestly really liked this book, it was a cute, slow, romance.

there were only a couple reasons why i didn’t give this 5 stars. first; the writing and plot got pretty boring at some points, you could tell the author wasn’t sure what to write so these parts weren’t as good as the others. second; i couldnt STAND a couple characters, although i did grow to like them which is something i liked. Brennas best friend is one i hated she was rude and insensitive towards her, but did realize that as we saw less of her. then brennas biological aunt: angie, was pretty rude but i assume it was a tough spot for her as well as it was for brenna. but i did grow to like both characters a lot in the end.

now the things i liked: as i said earlier the character growth was INCREDIBLE every single character has growth. angie, brenna, naysa (sister) it was really great. there was quite a few issues and resolutions which kept it interesting as it got boring. something else that was great was the ending, it was great. it tied everything together, you heard from every character, nothing was left a blank, i was very satisfied with the resolution.

it was sad, it was romantic, it had issues and resolutions, if you like a slow burn, self growth story, then i’d suggest it. even if you don’t i still liked this book and recommend it.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have decided to rate this book a 4 but it could definitely be a 4.5. At the beginning and towards the middle I wasn’t interested and didn’t want to finish reading but as I kept reading towards the end it was so good. I loved the characters and the plot yeah the beginning was slow but it wasn’t bad it just took me a while to get into it. It was a good book and there was a spot that did make me cry. Great read! I loved how it dealt with the loss of a loved one and also new love and new connections. She really portrayed the story well.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Excellent for all ages. It may be about teenagers, but we all experience death and grieving. Everyone reacts differently and needs support.

[Valary · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I really appreciated the touches of Northern Exposure, I thought the story was very simple. Lots of emotions, drama, character interactions and not too much plot.