Rules

Rules Cynthia Lord Date: 01 April, 2006   —   $10.87   —   Book product page Rating:

Twelve-year-old aspiring artist Catherine keeps a list of rules in the back of her sketchbook for her autistic eight-year-old brother David.  While her best friend is in California for the summer, Catherine befriends Kristi, her new next-door neighbor, and Jason, a wheelchair-bound teen at her brother's occupational therapy clinic. 

This touching story is well-written and not sappy, preachy, or melodramatic.  Besides the basic rules she has for David like keep your pants on in public, she has ones that are useful for everyone like if you don't want to do something, say "hmm, I'll think about it" and maybe the person will forget to ask again.  Catherine sometimes resents her brother for getting all the attention in the family, but she also knows enough to blame her parents and not him.  She wishes her brother would just wake up "normal" one day, but eventually comes to realize that no one's family is normal. 

Elementary and middle school students probably won't pick it up on their own, but will enjoy it if they read it.  The cute and colorful cover will help make it an easy sell.

tags: rules  autism  cynthia lord  

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