About the author:
Kathleen Van Cleve is a novelist, screenwriter, film producer and teacher. She has produced the films Joe the King, (winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival), Pinero (a Miramax release starring Benjamin Bratt) and Undefeated (an HBO film starring Leguizamo). Her most recent novel, Drizzle, was published in March 2010 and received starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly and The Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books, and was named to Indiebound's Kids Next Spring 2010 list. Her other novels are Cranberry Queen (optioned by Miramax Films) and The Difference Between You and Me. She graduated with a dual degree from the Wharton School and the College of Arts & Sciences in 1988. She lives with her husband and two young sons in Philadelphia.
About the book:
Eleven-year-old Polly Peabody needs to make it start raining again. It has rained every Monday afternoon on her family’s rhubarb farm, until one Monday passes without a single raindrop. Polly has to figure out why—and if her Aunt Edith’s wish to sell the farm and her brother’s sudden illness are connected—before all the magic is gone. Maybe with the help of her best friend, a talking rhubarb plant named Harry, Polly can face her fears and uncover her family’s magical secret.
Enchantment runs deep on this magical rhubarb farm…
Endorsements：
Magical realism meets Midwestern sensibilities in this charming coming of-age tale that manages to tackle some sobering issues, including mortality and family betrayal, while maintaining a sense of wonder that will captivate young readers from the first page.
— Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Van Cleve’s debut is emotionally subtle and action packed with a highly memorable setting.
—Publishers Weekly