The Usual Rules

Wendy wakes up one morning and visualizes the clothing that she will wear to her eighth grade class. She consulted with her mother Janet about her outfit yesterday but of course, mothers, as a rule will not be able to help teenage daughters with important things like looks. Her six-year-old brother Louie jumps into bed with her and cuddles until they both head downstairs to the smell of fresh French toast that stepfather Josh has made. Mom goes to work, Wendy goes to school, and Josh and Louie stay home. The day is September 11 and Mom is killed just a few short hours later in her office on the 84th floor of one of the twin towers. Without being maudlin, Maynard creates a family so real, a grief so real that readers virtually smell the show more French toast cooking, the towers burning. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Wendy untangles the broken shards of rules and convention. Her biological father, who deserted the family years ago, arrives to “save” Wendy and whisks her away to California. Even in California, however, the usual rules just don’t seem to have meaning anymore. Wendy thrashes about, sometimes gracefully, sometimes destructively, in her attempt to create a way to live with excruciating pain. The lack of quotation marks and the wandering back and forth in time add to the meaning without being too difficult to decipher. While Maynard, perhaps, creates more tragic stories to float in front of Wendy than reason dictates, the sensual feast, the lyrical writing, and the ambitious nature of the story more than make up for any shortcomings. “Some people might have gotten fed up with a person like Peter Pan. He was so irresponsible, but Wendy was patient. She loved him for the good parts and forgave the rest.” (4). Just imagine that someone asked you to write a novel that conveyed the sense of loss rendered by 9/11 and I think you too will find yourself loving those good parts so much that you forgive the rest. You will need Kleenex for this fine, fine book! show less

This book was soooo sad. It made me grateful for alot of things, but the ending didn't accomplish anything really. There wasn't a satisfying conclusion at all. It was just a sad book that ended sadly too. But it was a good read. It made me stop and think alot about life.

It's an average day in teenager Wendy's life when she argues with her mom before school, and they go off to conduct their respective lives. Unfortunately, the day is anything but usual because Wendy's mom has gone to her job at the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Wendy's world turns upside down as she is left to deal with her mother's death, and the grief that her stepfather and younger brother experience.
It's a heartbreaking story, but Wendy is resilient and has the ability to come out of this horrible tragedy on the other side.

It's an average day in teenager Wendy's life when she argues with her mom before school, and they go off to conduct their respective lives. Unfortunately, the day is anything but usual because Wendy's mom has gone to her job at the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Wendy's world turns upside down as she is left to deal with her mother's death, and the grief that her stepfather and younger brother experience.
It's a heartbreaking story, but Wendy is resilient and has the ability to come out of this horrible tragedy on the other side.

A realistic, but very moving story about a young girl's life after her mother is killed on Sept.11. I loved all of the characters and was so glad that there was hope for Wendy at the end.

A bit weird with little to no quotation marks between characters, but the plot itself is definitely nothing usual with the setting of 9/11 as the background.

The Usual Rules is a great book. It's about a teenage girl who's going through a lot in her life. She's experiencing many changes, and her parents don't understand her.