Rules

Lord, C. (2008).Rules. NY: Scholastic. Twelve year old Catherine finds herself dealing with finding a place in the family that seems to be centered on coping with David's autistic needs for comfort and development. She detests David’s strict faithfulness of his rules, but makes new rules for him that are common sense for others. Catherine starts a friendship with Jason, the boy in the wheelchair at David’s therapy clinic, and tries to befriend Kristi, her new next-door neighbor. Catherine narrates her hopes of David being normal and figuring out how to be a good person and to be happy. At the end, Catherine realizes that acceptance of others is key. Lord doesn’t offer any resolution for a family dealing with autism. The complexities of a family relationship will drive readers to look inside and see what role they play in their family and that no family is normal. The insecurities that Catherine carried are typical of young readers and having a classroom discussion centered on this social issue or maybe journal their thoughts can help them express their feelings.