BIBLIOGRAPHY

Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2001. Rain is not my Indian name. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0688173977

PLOT SUMMARY

On the night before her birthday, the night that Rain finally kissed her forever best-friend, Galen, he is tragically killed in an automobile accident on his way home. In her grief, Rain refuses to attend Galen’s funeral and shuts herself and her life off from everyone around her for six months, not realizing until later that the town gossip is that she and Galen did more than kiss. Her brother Fynn, also tired of Rain’s reclusiveness, strongly encourages her to attend her Aunt Georgia’s Indian Camp for children. Although Rain inherited Native American blood from both her father’s side of the family and her mother’s, she is reluctant to expose herself as an “Indian” in her small hometown. Finally, Rain volunteers to attend the camp as a volunteer photographer, and becomes involved through her camera lens. The experience reconnects her with friends from her past and those who hope to be part of her future. When funding for the camp becomes a political debate in her small town, Rain must decide whether to commit to her heritage or return to hiding. Throughout the story, Rain’s slightly dysfunctional family supports her and her efforts to return to life as a normal teenager.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)

Cassidy Rain Berghoff is a modern Native American who has suffered the loss of her mother and now the loss of her best friend, and first romantic interest. Cynthia Leitich Smith does not give a detailed description of Rain or of the other characters, but in passing informs readers that she is “average height, average weight, with bottle-cap boobs and eyes pinched at the corners”. When her mother was alive, she used to say that Rain’s “hair looked like waving wheat and [her] eyes changed color with the weather”. Although Rain does say that her brother Finn is “striking”, the only other description readers get of Fynn is when Rain calls him “Native American Fabio”.

Rain is Not My Indian Name portrays a family of Native Americans living the average American life. They have a nice house in Kansas, their father is in the Air Force, their grandfather lives with them along with Fynn’s girlfriend/fiancée, Natalie. Throughout the story, Rain struggles with her heritage, which is mixed, but still a vital part of her life. There is mention of Rain’s resentment of the way it felt to be an Indian in her small town. “At school, the subject of Native Americans pretty much comes up just around Turkey Day, like those cardboard cutouts of the Pilgrims and the pumpkins and the squash taped to the windows at McDonald’s” (p. 13). Rain’s reaction is to avoid the season and read other materials when the class is discussing the season.

Although Rain is not ashamed of her heritage, it is not her favorite topic of conversation. Aunt Georgia’s Indian Camp, as Rain feared brings her heritage, her past, and her future into the open, forcing her to deal with her life with all its ups and downs. Although Rain is a Native American, Smith portrays her as an average American girl with the same thoughts and feelings as everyone else. This is a wonderful story for readers to experience life along with Rain and see the world through the eyes of someone with special qualities and a heritage that helps her face the challenges she must face every day.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Publisher’s Weekly. The sensitive yet witty narrator, 14-year-old Cassidy Rain Berghoff, grows up in a small Kansas town as one of the few people with some Native American heritage. That experience alone might challenge Rain, but Smith creates a welter of conflicts. Rain’s mother is dead (she was struck by lightning), and as the novel opens, her best friend is killed in a car accident just after he and Rain realize their friendship has grown into romance. Six months later, her older brother urges her to go to her great-aunt’s Indian Camp. At first she shrugs it off, but later volunteers to photograph the camp for the town paper and begins to share her Aunt Georgia’s commitment to it.

School Library Journal. There is a surprising amount of humor in this tender novel. It is one of the best portrayals around of kids whose heritage is mixed but still very important in their lives. As feelings about the public funding of Indian Camp heat up, the emotions and values of the characters remain crystal clear and completely in focus. It’s Rain’s story and she cannot be reduced to simple labels. A wonderful novel of a present-day teen and her “patchwork tribe”.

CONNECTIONS

This novel is a great beginning point for readers to discuss loss and what it can and does mean in their lives.

Look for these other novels about modern Native American kids:

Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Jingle dancer. ISBN 9780688162412

Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Indian shoes. ISBN 9780060295318

Carvell, Marlene. Who will tell my brother? ISBN 9780786816576

George, Jean Craighead. The talking Earth. ISBN 9780064402125

McCain, Becky Ray. Grandmother’s dreamcatcher. ISBN 9780807530320