Rules by Cynthia Lord

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lord, Cynthia. 2006. RULES. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc. ISBN-13-978-0-545-03640-5
2. PLOT SUMMARY
In this insightful and valuable book, Lord creates a likeable and very real character in Catherine, a twelve-year-old girl with an eight-year-old autistic brother. Catherine is torn between love for her brother and fear of the impact his behavior has on how friends perceive her. When a new friend moves in next door, Catherine’s fear of rejection intensifies until a young, severely physically disabled young man helps her to understand that tolerance and acceptance must begin with her.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In Rules, Lord tells a powerful story that is useful for helping young adolescents to develop sensitivity toward those who are different. Readers will find it easy to relate to twelve-year-old Catherine, who struggles with her mixed feeling toward her autistic eight-year-old brother. Through Catherine, older children get a glimpse of the difficulty of having a sibling whose disability is the center of a family’s life.
Through this book, readers have an opportunity to become better acquainted with autism. Eight-year-old David needs rules to make sense of the world he lives in. Since he perceives things differently than others around him, David relies on rules in order to help him to function in everyday life. Catherine writes down rules for David because he “needs to be taught everything. Everything from the fact that a peach is not a funny-looking apple to how having long hair doesn’t make someone a girl.” However, as someone who defends and must take care of someone with autism, Catherine has her own ongoing survival list or rules.
Catherine learns that one can make the most unusual friends when one is willing to look beneath the surface. When she first “talks” to Jason, a severely disabled, non-verbal wheelchair-bound young man, she never expects to find a funny, sarcastic and intelligent human being. As she begins to see him as a “real” person, she volunteers to write/draw words that will help him to express himself. In the process of giving him words, Catherine learns how to tell her parents that she needs their attention also while acknowledging that David, her brother, does have significant needs. Also, Jason helps her to move beyond herself in order to see that others around her have needs and feelings also. He becomes a catalyst that changes Catherine’s relationships with all the important people in her life.
4. AWARDS AND BOOK EXCERPT(S)
Newbery Honor Medal
Schneider Family Book Award
Kentucky Bluegrass Award
ALA Notable Children's Book
Booklist: “A heartwarming first novel.”
Kirkus Reviews: “Catherine is an appealing and believable character, acutely self-conscious and torn between her love for her brother and her resentment of his special needs. Middle-grade readers will recognize her longing for acceptance and be intrigued by this exploration of dealing with differences.”
Publisher’s Weekly: "The appealing, credible narrator at the heart of Lord's debut novel will draw in readers, as she struggles to find order and balance in her life.”
School Library Journal: "Catherine is an endearing narrator who tells her story with both humor and heartbreak. . . this sensitive story is about being different, feeling different, and finding acceptance. A lovely, warm read, and a great discussion starter."
Library Media Connection: "The first-person narrative is very engaging, and readers will identify with Catherine's struggles and cheer for her at the end. This is a great book to help students gain some understanding about autism, while also providing a good read. The author is the mother of an autistic child.”
5. CONNECTIONS:
Lowry, Lois. 2005. THE SILENT BOY. ISBN-10: 0440419808
Woodson, Jacqueline. 2007. FEATHERS. ISBN -10: 0399239898
Picoult, Jodi. 2010. HOUSE RULES: A NOVEL. ISBN-10: 0743296435