Rules by Cynthia Lord

Rules by Cynthia Lord
2006. Scholastic Inc. 200 pgs.

Children: Realistic Fiction
Newbery Honor 2007

First Line: Rules for David: Chew with your mouth closed.

Catherine’s brother, David, is autistic but he tries to follow rules. Catherine is ashamed of the way he acts. She tries to avoid being seen publically with him. Their parent’s expect too much of her because of David. She thinks that they don’t really see her. Catherine desperately wants to become friends with Kristi, the girl who moves in next door. Kristi is prissy and doesn’t enjoy the same things that Catherine does. Plus Kristi hits it off with Ryan, the boy who is mean to Jason. Catherine befriends Jason, a paraplegic, and begins to draw cards for him to use as words. Catherine really likes Jason but she struggles because she is afraid of what people will think of her if they see her with him.

I liked this story. It was interesting because I don’t know much about autism so it’s all new to me. Catherine’s struggle is realistic- she is embarrassed to be seen with handicapped people. She loves her brother though and attempts to remember that it isn’t his fault that he's not normal. I like the use of his rules as the chapter titles. And the fact that David uses quotes from Frog and Toad are Friends when he can’t find his own words. Throughout the book you can see the special bond between brother and sister, despite Catherine’s misgivings. I found it sad that Kristi wasn’t the friend that Catherine wanted, but this was tempered by the fact that Melissa would be coming back and her new friend, Jason. Jason evolves just as much as Catherine does in this story. It’s her friendship that draws him out of his shell. At the beginning he’s sour and lethargic. And towards the end, he and Catherine have a fight and they work through it. That’s the proof of real friendship.