Rules

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 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 show more 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

Rules is an unfiltered look at a young girl, Catherine, and her brother, David, who has autism. The story gives a realistic look at how a teenager really thinks about her autistic brother, sometimes it shows the harsh reality of her thinking when it says, "Sometimes I wish someone would invent a pill so David’d wake up one morning without autism". While some stories about disabilities try to paint a picture of everything is great, Rules shows the truth of what it's like to grow up with a disability even if it is not yours.

Twelve-year-old Catherine has a long list of rules to try and help her brother David navigate the world. However, David, who is on the autism spectrum, does not always understand or want to follow Catherine's rules. When a new girl Catherine's age moves in next door to them, Catherine is so concerned about fitting in and worrying that David will accidentally sabotage the friendship before it even gets off the ground. However, Catherine is seemingly unaware that she is already developing a new friendship with a boy at the clinic David visits for OT.

This book was not quite what I was expecting; going in to it, I thought it would be more about having a sibling with an autistic diagnosis. While that was obviously part of it, this is really show more Catherine's story much more than David's. In many ways, this was your typical 'problem' novel for a middle-school protagonist, dealing with issues like finding true friends, developing crushes, dealing with bullies, etc. Some might object to autism being sidelined here (although I would point those readers to other books that feature protagonists with autism); however, I do think it's important to see a family perspective as well.

Being more than 10 years old, there were parts of this book that already felt dated, such as numerous references to cassette tapes. But on the whole, it's held up fairly well.

For the audiobook reader, Jessica Almasy was a proficient narrator who brought empathy and life to the story. show less

Twelve year old Catherine has an autistic brother and wants nothing more than to lead a normal life. When the new girl, Kristi, moves in next door Catherine has hopes that they can become best friends. She worries about her brother, David, embarrassing her so she comes up with a list of rules for her him to follow. Catherine's friendship with a paraplegic boy only complicates things more. When Catherine learns that Jason can only communicate by pointing to the limited images in his notebook, she decides to draw him some new pictures so that he can communicate more effectively and more like a teenager. Despite her love for her brother and her friendship with Jason, Catherine still finds herself struggling with her emotions. Having wanted show more to fit in so badly, Catherine is forced to deal with her behavior and question what is normal.
Cynthia Lord honestly portrays the realities of life for children today. Her characters are well developed and believable. The emotional struggle and choices Catherine makes are believable and credible to today's child. Catherine's negative behavior is explained in a way that makes her endearing. Through Lord's writing we can feel Catherine's emotional struggle and the aftereffects of her actions. She opens readers minds up to questioning how one defines normal.
I really liked this book and I would recommend it to students who like Out of My Mind and students in grades 4-8. show less

Catherine's younger brother David has autism, and she makes up rules to teach him things that other kids would pick up through observation. Catherine is frequently embarrassed by David's behavior, and also sometimes resentful and frustrated that the lion's share of her parents' time and attention goes to him. She is hopeful when a new family moves into their neighborhood, since her best friend is away for the summer and she doesn't have other friends in walking distance, but she can tell that Kristi is going to be popular - she's already friends with the awful Ryan, who teases David and laughs at him, not with him. Catherine's other new friend is Jason, a boy she meets at the clinic where David has occupational therapy. Jason is in a show more wheelchair and can't talk, but he communicates by pointing at cards, and Catherine, an artist, makes him more word cards with pictures. Catherine mentions Jason to Kristi, but omits the fact that he's in a wheelchair. When Kristi asks her to ask Jason to the community center dance, Catherine tries to get out of it - but in the end, she proves a thoughtful and brave friend.

"Just because other people think something, that doesn't make it true." (179)

See also: Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper, Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern (YA) show less

Catherine's younger brother David has autism and all her life she has had to teach him the rules of living such as "no toys in the fish tank" and "if someone says hi, you say hi back." Living with his disability has become more difficult and embarrassing as Catherine verges on adolescence. She hopes the new girl next door will be the friend she can just take off and do things with without worrying about David. But she feels acceptance isn't guaranteed as long as David acts out. At the same time, Catherine befriends Jason, a patient at David's occupational therapy clinic. They communicate through word cards and she creates new word card pictures for him. Her new friendship with Jason, and the pain she inadvertently causes him, helps show more Catherine view David and his disability through a more compassionate light. (In my opinion, should have won the Newbery Medal for 2007!) show less

I really enjoyed this book for several reasons. This book is written for siblings of children with Autism, and its characters are extremely realistic. The plot has a ton of rising and falling action while you experience things like therapy sessions, making friendships, and finding what "normal" means with the young main character, Catherine. The book's language is accurate to the jargon of Autism, yet still light enough to be engaging to young readers. The chapters of this book are organized to present a new "rule" Catherine has identified to her brother, David. The central message of this book revolves around accepting that "normal" is also "different" but that doesn't mean that your "normal" is bad.