'the morning I died it rained. Poured down so hard it washed the blood off my face.' thus begins the story of ten-year-old lori jean, whose short life and early death are woven into a poignant, heart- wrenching novel set...'the morning I died it rained. Poured down so hard it washed the blood off my face.' thus begins the story of ten-year-old lori jean, whose short life and early death are woven into a poignant, heart- wrenching novel set in the rural south of the 1950s.