Kissing The Rain (Hardcover)

by Kevin Brooks (Author) "You wanna know the TRUTH?..." (more)
Key Phrases: keith vine, midget guy, road rage thing, Range Rover, Dec Bowker, North Side (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Moo Nelson is fat--pale white blubbery fat--and he gets rained on every day at school for it. The jokes, the insults, the snide laughter, the beatings--all of it he calls the RAIN. Moo has learned to "umbrellarize" it, to walk through it with his eyes down. Because after school there is always the bridge--a place where he can where he can watch the cars go by on the highway and find some shelter from the RAIN.

That is until the day he sees two speeding cars, a crash, a scuffle, and a murder on the bridge. Moo is the only witness, and his story is not what the police want to hear. If he tells the truth, Keith Vine, a notorious bad guy, will go free, and Detective Inspector Callan will retaliate by sending Moo's father to jail for welfare fraud. If he lies, Vine will take violent revenge. The secret pressures mount on Moo from all sides--money and gifts, threats and beatings--until he chooses to kiss the RAIN, to take action against his tormentors.

Kevin Brooks again shows the brilliance that won him acclaim for Martyn Pig and Lucas. The story emerges through a murky stream of consciousness; Moo's working-class British voice swirls past the boulders of plot events. Moo is befuddled, hurting, and enormously touching as he struggles toward a dimly perceived Right Thing to Do, and misses the mark badly. This third YA novel from Kevin Brooks' is evocative of the best of PBS' Mystery! Series. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up--Michael "Moo" Nelson is an uncouth, overweight, working-class 15-year-old who escapes the daily harassment--the "rain" as he calls it--he faces at school by riding his bike to a bridge, climbing to a familiar vantage point, and losing himself in the Zen of watching the endless flow of traffic. His life is changed when he witnesses a murder from the bridge. The alleged killer is a notoriously ruthless organized-crime figure and Michael is the only one who knows that the man is innocent of this particular crime, but is being framed by the police, who are eager to see him behind bars. Michael quickly becomes the recipient of bribes and threats from parties on both sides of the high-profile case, and his knowledge unwittingly translates to power at school where his former tormentors, aware of his potent connections, are suddenly reluctant to mess with him. Ultimately, he faces a dilemma: he can tell the truth and allow a nefarious thug to remain free, in which case the police have made it clear they'll pursue welfare-fraud charges against the teen's freeloading father, or he can lie and send the gang boss to prison, in which case he seems bound to be targeted for retribution. Brooks abruptly finishes the novel with Moo considering a third, violent alternative--one that, while risky and rash, would clearly demonstrate his growth as a character. Unfortunately, readers are left to guess how things turn out, and that is likely to infuriate those who've hung with Moo till the end.--Jeffrey Hastings, Highlander Way Middle School, Howell, MI
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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: The Chicken House (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 043957742X
• ISBN-13: 978-0439577427
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,040,865 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Rain: We all live it, August 9, 2004

By	Dare2bestupid "Dare2bedifferent, Dare2beyourself" (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews

Moo Nelson is a young man who has to face the everyday chellenges of an oveerweight adolescent. His friends are not real friends, his enemies are real enemies though. He must deal with the "rain" (insults and beatings) every day of his life, but rather than drugs or alcahol, he escapes his inner torments with the simple peacefulness of a bridge.

One day however, the peacfulness is shattered as a case of road rage turns violent. Suddenly Moo is hurtled into a confusing series of events that endangers his well being. If Moo tells the truth, or if he lies, something terrible will happen. All Moo does know, however, is that he somehow has to overcome the rain.

This book is speactacularly written, truly revealing the inner torments of an overweight teenager. The confusing thoughts, the pain, the misery all comes pouring out in a horriyingly calm and accepting manner. I am 15 years old and an avid reader, so I am not easily impressed, but the book was very impressive. If you enjoy this book I would recommend "Crusader" as well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kissing the Rain (a teenager's review), March 29, 2009

By	red_ryter "redstar" (NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kissing The Rain (Mass Market Paperback)

Kissing the Rain. Kevin Brooks. UK: PUSH, 2004. 320 pages


Words are sounds or pictures that convey meaning. Sounds simple? It's not; writing is no walk in the park. But when a writer manages to use words so well that you not only become one with the character but you also don't even notice it happening, there is only one phrase suitable: pure literary skill. So it is with Kevin Brooks' Kissing the Rain, a novel about the life of a social nobody, changed forever when he becomes the sole witness in a murder investigation and everyone around him treats him like a different person--even people he didn't even know about before. This is one of those books whose target is the world; avid readers of all ages will enjoy this. However, there are some who will not, as this book does have its flaws--this goes as a warning to the not easily amazed. While this novel wins gold in description, convincing-ness, description, voice, and description, it stumbles before the high and mighty threshold of plot. The main character, Moo, got both his name and his lack of popularity from his weight-- 240 pounds. The "RAIN" is the never-ending torrent of torments, all about- you guessed it- his weight. And the there is the bridge: a foot-bridge over the busy A-12, a place where he can escape, relax, let go. Which is all fine and well--till the car chase and the fatal stabbing that ensues--all just 22.6 meters away from the bridge, and Moo. He then becomes important socially, legally, and quite possibly lethally- considering the defendant is Keith Vine, possibly one of the most evil men in England.

The author, Kevin Brooks, tends to use CAPITALS a lot in the story. Did that word seem to jump out at you in a harsh sort of way? In Kissing the Rain, that effect is vital to the story--and stunning to the reader. That, and other techniques of voice, a literary technique of multiple guises that makes a book seem more real than paper, make this book gold. And the lack of plot is what makes it look more like bronze. The greatest amount of action in any part of the book (besides the stabbing itself) is in a courtroom trial, which to me falls a ways short of "entertaining the masses". First, Moo has no real goals; he just wants to live out his life as target practice for bullies. Even after the early fatality, his motives remain unclear (let alone those of everyone else), and the only plot twists are the efforts of the two legal sides (virtually the entire police force vs. Keith Vine) to get Moo to use his story to back THEM up and not the other guys. Even the ending, which I will not tell, was sort of a letdown for me.

The book starts off, as said above, with Moo's in-your-face description of the murder. "You wanna know the TRUTH? I'll tell you the TRUTH--I'm sick of it. Sick of all the FAT stuff and Callan and Vine and the bridge and the road and the cars and the eyes and the words and the lies....GOD." Wow. However, as this bloody spectacle doesn't concern Moo personally (yet), all he has to do NOW is to give a statement. That in itself is possibly THE most plotless part of the story. No, right now we are concerned about Moo's life only, and how his popularity turns up, how everyone is asking him questions, how the RAIN has stopped, and how his only "friend", also picked on mercilessly by the bullies, seems to be turning against the now-popular STILL-NICKNAMED Moo. And also how he learns about Keith Vine, ex-and current-con, as described: "...showing this hard-looking mug with wiry black hair, his skin all tanned and orangey, like he's dried up in the sun...and I KNOW all along it's the Range Rover guy, but it still kinda hits me--WHACK--in the head. Cos Brady(the friend)'s right--this guy's a BADA- -. And I can see what's gonna happen--I can SEE myself getting dragged into a whole heap of
BADA - -ery.". Then (as any reader who has ever experienced middle school had better know), give drama and rumors a few days to percolate and soon it's all out of control. Brady stops talking to Moo, and rumors fly that he went forward as an eyewitness to the accident--obviously trying to get in the spotlight himself. Bullies, including the ape-like clique leader Dec Bowker, get even MORE vicious (if possible). And outside of school, efforts from Callan (the head of the police force) and Vine (the sole opposition) to get Moo to back them up in court get to boiling point (Keith Vine is not a pretty sight when angered). And I quote: "(Our friend Vine) I promise. It'll be OK. All right? (Moo) No, it AINT all right. Get your hand off--...BOOM!- he hits me so hard in the belly I think I'm gonna EXPLODE...He's gone. Left me here. Crawling in the dirt. Hurting like a bastad."

And here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for, the judgment of the book! (enter Simon) This book was supposed to be the slightly sad and superfluously sardonic view of a social nonentity wrapped in a murder case, and that goal was achieved 10 for 10. Some people will wish the book had more plot, but looking at the theme (life of 15-year-old social nobody), that's hard to do...but perfection doesn't care about the circumstances. Plot comes in at a tepid 6 for 10. Since there are NO other books on any subject quite like this one, there is no comparison (all the more reason for you to want to read it). Description gets another 10 for 10, and if you are looking for character-ization (character description) then this is your book (10 for 10). Voice (techniques to make sentences interesting): essential to any book, and spread on thick in this one. 10 for 10. AT LEAST. And the ending was sort of lukewarm, but you can't win `em all. 7 for 10. I'd say that this book is an 8 or 9 out of 10 overall.

I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who's even vaguely interested. Are there better ones out there? Maybe, but this one is definitely worth your while.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars CONFUSING BOOK, January 7, 2005

A Kid's Review

This is a book about a kid named Moo who is bullied and picked on and one day he goes to his "special spot" and witnesses a road rage where someone is murdered. He ends up going to court but is blackmailed by the lawyers before he gets there. You eventually figure out which side he testifies for, and at the very end you find out what "kiss the rain" actually means. This is a descent book but it's hard to understand. Moo repeats himself over and over and he also does a lot of talking to himself which makes the book confusing. I wouldn't advise anyone lower than tenth grade to read this book.