The Rainy Year is a work of fiction, of nature, of spirituality, along with a protest against war. The protagonist, Arthur Finstead, is a first year science teacher who accepts a position in Sturgeon Falls, a small Finnish community on the northern border of Minnesota. The story relates his experiences with students, faculty, and their parents against a background of the war in Vietnam and the anxiety of being drafted into the army by the Selective Service system. Finstead was an adopted child and knows nothing of his biological parents. He takes up residence in the old homestead that was the childhood home of the only father he knew. Finstead relies on the school secretary, Alice, and the physical ed. teacher, Jacob for friendship and guidance. The book alternates to characters and events that illustrate the history of the community along with the beliefs and customs that provide background to Finstead's students and help answer his question, "Why do they act the way they do?" Characters will include: George, a Finnish bachelor who struggles between his Lutheran upbringing and a god as found within nature; Harry, a happy-go-lucky logger, yodeler, always seeking romance; Carl, an artistic young man, handicapped with a genetic deafness and feared by some within the community; Matt, a gruff logger, retired bootlegger, with a heart of gold; and Augie, a half-blooded Native, talented baseball player, and with the gift of visions. Each story notes a news event or is illustrated with drawings from Carl's notebook.