The Umbrella Maker's Son

Gr 3-7--A quirky middle grade fantasy set on planet Erde, in a city called Roan and featuring Oscar, 11, cued as white, and his brilliant and fearless best friend Saige, also 11, who uses a wheelchair and is described as having brown skin. Roan is surrounded by a guarded wall; it rains so much there that there are 47 different types of names for it (wittily described in footnotes and in a glossary at the end). Oscar's family umbrella business is failing due to competition from Brawn Industries. To save money, Oscar's father tells Oscar he'll have to drop out of school to become his apprentice in a business Oscar has zero interest in. Then Saige informs him she's moving to a wealthier and less rainy part of Roan. At the mysterious Night Market run by the Farsouthians, who have elf blood, Oscar learns of a prophecy by a mysterious Farsouthian girl. He discovers the secret of Brawn Industries and how they are causing it to rain constantly in Roan. He and Saige set off on an exciting and harrowing journey to stop Brawn Industries as Saige's father resorts to dangerous lengths to defeat them. Enhanced by Orlu's black-and-white illustrations, this book starts out leisurely, giving readers time to appreciate descriptive settings, inventive foods, and types of rain as it builds to an action-packed climax. VERDICT Readers looking for an introspective, weather-driven fantasy focused on friendship, family, and community will enjoy this thoughtful story of young people fighting greed.--Sharon Rawlins

Eleven-year-old Oscar Buckle lives in Alley, an impoverished area of Roan on the rain-plagued planet Erde. Forty-seven types of rain befall the world, ranging from Flinner, described as "hesitant, reluctant, a mediocre drizzle," to Blanderwheel, a dangerous rain of "epic, monsoon-like proportions." Oscar's life--which was already "gray, smoky, cloudy, and generally miserable"--grows more complicated when his father, an umbrella maker, takes him out of school to help the failing family business. Though his father specializes in making sturdy umbrellas, each suited for a different rain type, their competitors' cheap alternatives keep snatching up would-be customers. Worse, his best friend Saige, who uses a wheelchair that she upgrades with her engineering prowess, is moving away. But when a seer suddenly appears in a previously unknown section of the local Night Market with a task for Oscar, he and Saige begin unraveling a terrible truth about Roan's perpetual rain. This amiable fantasy by Leno (Sometime in Summer) is at its strongest when focusing on Oscar and Saige's unshakable friendship and Saige's inventiveness. Footnotes feature throughout, and a rain glossary concludes. Oscar is white; Saige reads as Black. Ages 8-12. Agent: Wendy Schmalz, Wendy Schmalz Agency. (June)