Shouting at the Rain

Lynda Mullaly Hunt is an American writer, speaker, and English teacher currently living in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The youngest of five children, she lost her brother just before his fourth birthday, an event that impacted her deeply and inspired her to write song lyrics in memory of her brother, beginning her interest in writing. She grew up in Connecticut and gained two degrees in education from the University of Connecticut. She became an elementary school teacher and began writing stories for students so they could learn how to correct grammatical errors.

In the Afterword, Hunt explains that she “struggled” as a child and felt that she was unlucky when she was in middle school. Like Delsie, she struggled with friendships, had parents “who could not be available” to her (271), and came from a family that shopped at estate sales and owned a broken car. However, in high school, a friend pointed out that she was lucky, prompting Hunt to reconsider her situation and to “shine a light upon [her] blessings rather than [her] struggles” (271). The Importance of Changing Perspectives is a core theme of Shouting at the Rain.

In her adult life, Hunt moved to Cape Cod, fulfilling her childhood desire to live in Massachusetts, and she identifies strongly with the area’s nature and community. Shouting at the Rain is her third novel, following One for the Murphys (2012) and Fish in a Tree (2015), all of which are contemporary middle-grade novels.