Cynthia Lord
Author of Rules
About the Author
Series
Works by Cynthia Lord
Hot Rod Hamster and the Wacky Whatever Race! (Scholastic Reader, Level 2) (2014) 426 copies, 3 reviews
Hot Rod Hamster and the Haunted Halloween Party! (Hot Rod Hamster) (Scholastic Readers, Level 2: Hot Rod Hamster) (2015) 169 copies
Hot Rod Hamster and the Awesome ATV Adventure! (Scholastic Reader, Level 2 Reader) (2015) 132 copies
Jelly Bean Scientist 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- writer
teacher
behavioral specialist
bookseller - Agent
- Tracey Adams
- Short biography
- (from Rules) Cynthia Lord is the mother of two children, one of whom has autism. She says, "I wrote Rules to explore some of my own questions about living with someone who sees the world so differently than I do, but also to show a full experience of family life with a child with autism: the happy moments, the heartbeaking ones, the ones that make me laugh."
Lord is a former teacher, behavioral specialist, and bookseller. She lives with her husband and their children in Maine. Rules is her first novel. Visit her at www.cynthialord.com. - Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- New Hampshire, USA
Brunswick, Maine, USA - Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
First sentence: For weeks the unicorn waited on the toy store shelf. Families came and went, but no one bought the snow-white unicorn with a twisty horn and a sparkly pink tail. On his tag, it said his name was Dazzle. It also said that unicorns can grant wishes, but only for someone with a good heart. Dazzle didn’t know if he could grant a wish for himself. But he thought it was worth a try. So every night, he made the same wish. I wish for a home and a child of my own.
Premise/plot: show more Dazzle (the unicorn) has one wish--to belong to one child and be LOVED. Unfortunately, Dazzle's wish is unlikely to come true--at least in the traditional sense. Dazzle is purchased, but, not for one child. He is instead purchased for many children. He is "rescued in the wild" (if you will) by Anne the Librarian. (Or is it Ann the librarian?) Dazzle becomes a book buddy. Children (with library cards) can check out a toy--a book buddy--in addition to checking out books. Dazzle goes home with Maya as a book buddy...and adventures are had....
My thoughts: I absolutely love the Book Buddies series. I've read all three books. I highly recommend the series. It is everything I would have LOVED as a kid growing up. Let's be honest, it is everything I love now as an adult. Books and toys just go well together. I love the fantasy of it as well. Each book introduces us readers to a new toy, a new child, and new adventures. The toy sections very much read like Toy Story (minus the scary/creepy elements). While Dazzle is the toy selected by Maya; Maya's brother chooses a garden gnome whom he pretends is a wizard. It's just silly goodness.
To be honest, Dazzle would not be my first choice of toy to bring home. I definitely discriminate against glitter. I just have a zero tolerance level for shedding glitter. This book might help me feel guilty about that. But still. show less
Premise/plot: show more Dazzle (the unicorn) has one wish--to belong to one child and be LOVED. Unfortunately, Dazzle's wish is unlikely to come true--at least in the traditional sense. Dazzle is purchased, but, not for one child. He is instead purchased for many children. He is "rescued in the wild" (if you will) by Anne the Librarian. (Or is it Ann the librarian?) Dazzle becomes a book buddy. Children (with library cards) can check out a toy--a book buddy--in addition to checking out books. Dazzle goes home with Maya as a book buddy...and adventures are had....
My thoughts: I absolutely love the Book Buddies series. I've read all three books. I highly recommend the series. It is everything I would have LOVED as a kid growing up. Let's be honest, it is everything I love now as an adult. Books and toys just go well together. I love the fantasy of it as well. Each book introduces us readers to a new toy, a new child, and new adventures. The toy sections very much read like Toy Story (minus the scary/creepy elements). While Dazzle is the toy selected by Maya; Maya's brother chooses a garden gnome whom he pretends is a wizard. It's just silly goodness.
To be honest, Dazzle would not be my first choice of toy to bring home. I definitely discriminate against glitter. I just have a zero tolerance level for shedding glitter. This book might help me feel guilty about that. But still. show less
Everything is complicated for 12-year old Catherine. She loves her younger brother David, but he’s autistic which means he just doesn’t understand some things and he’s always embarrassing Catherine somehow. The new girl should be the perfect next-door friend Catherine’s always wanted (next door means David doesn’t have to come too), but she seems to have so much more in common with Jason, a wheelchair-bound boy she met at her brother’s therapy clinic, who can only communicate by show more pointing at speech cards. While Catherine understands that her parents struggle to keep up with David’s needs, she needs them too, but how can she ask them to spend time with her, when she knows David needs them so much more? To help both herself and David figure out some of these confusing things, Catherine keeps track of rules. Some are the rules that David lives by like, “If you don’t have the words you need, borrow someone else’s. If you need to borrow words, Arnold Lobel wrote some good ones.” Some are Catherine’s rules for things David can’t figure out on his own like, “Keep you pants on! Unless Mom, Dad or the doctor tells you to take them off.” But some are just Catherine’s rules for herself like, “Pantless brothers are not my problem.” The story of Catherine’s summer is funny, heartbreaking, thought-provoking and one you’ll never forget.
Realistically imperfect characters are the best part of this book. Catherine and David's parents are clearly good parents dealing with a difficult situation, but they also clearly have somewhat benignly neglected Catherine - which even if it's done by necessity makes your heart break for overlooked Catherine. Catherine herself is far from perfect and struggles throughout the book with making good decisions. Jason and his mother are equally well-developedCynthia Lord is the mother of an autistic child herself and the story is grounded in what seem to be realistic details. Definitely worthy of the Newbery honor and yet still appealing to kids. Read for Cover to Cover Book Group in February 2013. Read for Cover to Cover Book Group in May 2009. Previously read September 1, 2007. show less
Realistically imperfect characters are the best part of this book. Catherine and David's parents are clearly good parents dealing with a difficult situation, but they also clearly have somewhat benignly neglected Catherine - which even if it's done by necessity makes your heart break for overlooked Catherine. Catherine herself is far from perfect and struggles throughout the book with making good decisions. Jason and his mother are equally well-developedCynthia Lord is the mother of an autistic child herself and the story is grounded in what seem to be realistic details. Definitely worthy of the Newbery honor and yet still appealing to kids. Read for Cover to Cover Book Group in February 2013. Read for Cover to Cover Book Group in May 2009. Previously read September 1, 2007. show less
Quite short and quick, but it’s satisfying, there’s depth.
The premise is unique and loosely based on a real life scenario, where, to maintain their population enough to keep their school open, residents of an island bring foster children into their homes. I thought this walked the line pretty well of acknowledging that it’s an iffy reason to take up fostering but at the same time throughout the story you see that Aaron, as well as a little girl placed in another family, are genuinely show more welcomed, cared for, and included in their respective new homes.
Eleven year old Tess is such a likable main character, you grimace along with her whenever she comes in contact with the local bully, you’re hopeful that a new friendship might bloom between Tess and another girl, and even when you see Tess is maybe not making the wisest choices in order to ingratiate herself with her new foster brother, you know this kid’s heart is totally in the right place.
This story is told from Tess’s point of view, still through her eyes and through her efforts to get to know Aaron, you do get a really solid, and emotionally engaging glimpse of what Aaron’s been through in the foster system as well as his longing for his mom and the comfort he finds in music.
While the focus is on Tess’s new family dynamics, in the background of that there are picturesque descriptions (without going overboard) authentically capturing community, childhood, and summer, on an island. show less
The premise is unique and loosely based on a real life scenario, where, to maintain their population enough to keep their school open, residents of an island bring foster children into their homes. I thought this walked the line pretty well of acknowledging that it’s an iffy reason to take up fostering but at the same time throughout the story you see that Aaron, as well as a little girl placed in another family, are genuinely show more welcomed, cared for, and included in their respective new homes.
Eleven year old Tess is such a likable main character, you grimace along with her whenever she comes in contact with the local bully, you’re hopeful that a new friendship might bloom between Tess and another girl, and even when you see Tess is maybe not making the wisest choices in order to ingratiate herself with her new foster brother, you know this kid’s heart is totally in the right place.
This story is told from Tess’s point of view, still through her eyes and through her efforts to get to know Aaron, you do get a really solid, and emotionally engaging glimpse of what Aaron’s been through in the foster system as well as his longing for his mom and the comfort he finds in music.
While the focus is on Tess’s new family dynamics, in the background of that there are picturesque descriptions (without going overboard) authentically capturing community, childhood, and summer, on an island. show less
A little too simple for adult me, but young me would have read this several times, so rounded up to four stars. She would have loved learning about lobster fishing, and a town even smaller than ours (I graduated HS w/ 87 other kids), and why some kids are in the foster care system even though they're not orphans, and more.
I am dissatisfied though with how the author explored the character of Eben, the bully. I mean, I'm glad they didn't magically find a way into his heart to convert him to show more being a friend, like too many MG stories, but I felt things were just left ominously dangling. A sequel would be good.
Oh, and I'm glad there was no hint of anyone having a crush on anyone else. It's another trope that's all too common in 'tween novels. But Lord made the girl 11 and the new boy 13, which is believable as just a bit too young for that to be an issue, even though the kids are old enough to be smart & perceptive.
11-12 is a watershed year for a lot of kids as they are mature enough to naturally notice that other people have their own dreams, fears, etc.... until then, they generally have to be guided to be empathetic. ... Hm... I guess maybe that's one of the reasons I read so much about kids this age; it's fascinating to watch them develop that awareness and start to become more wise.
(Would that more adults would do something good with their capability to consider other people's points of view ....)
Anyway, I'm not sure the book is worth all this rumination and writing, but it's a fun, quick, and thought-provoking read, so if your library has it, and especially if you liked [b:Rules|222458|Rules|Cynthia Lord|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1680456241l/222458._SX50_.jpg|1139031] but want something maybe a bit lighter, give it a go. I will look for more by the author. show less
I am dissatisfied though with how the author explored the character of Eben, the bully. I mean, I'm glad they didn't magically find a way into his heart to convert him to show more being a friend, like too many MG stories, but I felt things were just left ominously dangling. A sequel would be good.
Oh, and I'm glad there was no hint of anyone having a crush on anyone else. It's another trope that's all too common in 'tween novels. But Lord made the girl 11 and the new boy 13, which is believable as just a bit too young for that to be an issue, even though the kids are old enough to be smart & perceptive.
11-12 is a watershed year for a lot of kids as they are mature enough to naturally notice that other people have their own dreams, fears, etc.... until then, they generally have to be guided to be empathetic. ... Hm... I guess maybe that's one of the reasons I read so much about kids this age; it's fascinating to watch them develop that awareness and start to become more wise.
(Would that more adults would do something good with their capability to consider other people's points of view ....)
Anyway, I'm not sure the book is worth all this rumination and writing, but it's a fun, quick, and thought-provoking read, so if your library has it, and especially if you liked [b:Rules|222458|Rules|Cynthia Lord|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1680456241l/222458._SX50_.jpg|1139031] but want something maybe a bit lighter, give it a go. I will look for more by the author. show less
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 25
- Members
- 12,743
- Popularity
- #1,838
- Rating
- 4.2
- Reviews
- 664
- ISBNs
- 203
- Languages
- 5
- Favorited
- 5
