Rules

Lord, C. (2008). Rules. NY:  Scholastic. Catherine is an ordinary tween with a not so ordinary life. Her little brother David, is autistic and doesn’t act very “normal.” She has to accompany him to occupational therapy where he meets a disabled child named Jason. Catherine just wants to have a normal life, but having an autistic brother makes it very difficult, according to her. And to help him, she writes down a long list of rules that can help David live a more normal life.  A new girl moves in to the neighborhood, invites her to a dance, and asks her to invite Jason. Coincidentally, the dance is the same day as Jason’s birthday.  Catherine decides to take her special friend Jason to the dance. There they see Kristi and her date. But when she sees Jason, her reaction was not very pleasant. Catherine and Jason ignore the whole situation, danced, and had a great time. Rules is organized in a very creative way. Instead of being divided by chapters, it is organized with rules Catherine has written for her brother and is related to the text in the particular chapter. It is written from Catherine’s perspective, in first person point of view. Through her, we get a better understanding of what autism is and the challenges families go through. Catherine struggled with being embarrassed by her brother and Jason’s disability. Towards the end of the book, we see that Catherine changes her attitude and stops caring so much about what others think. She learned that true friendship is more important than other people’s opinions.