Step by grudging step, Rachel and her ornery grandfather come together in the last months of his life. In the background are Rachel's fear of social isolation; her irritation with her stolid, sweet parents; and her tentative romance with Lewis Olswanger. When Rachel's best friend brings her birthday party to the old man's apartment, they participate in a joyous celebratory dance, and the contrast of youth to age, life to death is poignantly reassuring. Even surrounding characters are revealed with care, and rich visual imagery adds depth. Close to death, Grandpa Izzy takes Rachel on a fruitless quest to find the concrete handprint Izzy left on a bridge that he helped to build as a young man. After Izzy's death, Rachel finds the print, creating a symbol which binds the book together, past, present, and future. Mazer's uncomplicated prose, mostly dialogue, is effective and readable. In its portrayal of a family coalescing around an old tyrant, and of a young woman achieving adulthood, After the Rain sounds a resonant note. Carolyn Noah, Worcester Public Library, Mass. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.