"Rules" by Cynthia Lord

Rules, Cynthia Lord, Scholastic Inc.  2006. 

The novel Rules by Cynthia Lord tells the story of twelve-year-old Catherine, a girl growing up with an autistic brother.  David, her brother, struggles with picking up on social conventions because of his autism.  To help him, Catherine devises a system of writing down rules for him, that explain everything from, “No toys in the fish tank,” (Lord 70) to “If you want someone to leave you alone, agree with her,” (Lord 56).  The rules are meant for David, but along the way Catherine slips in rules that are relevant to her own life and experiences.  Catherine loves her brother, but sometimes it can be difficult for her to form relationships with people who don’t understand her situation.  She is embarrassed to invite her new neighbor Kristi over, and gets into trouble with the boy from the bus stop who teases David.  Yet David opens many more doors for Catherine than she at first realizes.  David goes to occupational therapy once a week, and it is in the waiting room of the OT clinic that Catherine meets Jason, a boy who cannot talk and uses a wheelchair.  Catherine slowly makes friends with Jason, adding cards with words and colorful pictures to the book of words he points to in order to communicate.  Catherine struggles at first, with being in public with Jason, but by the end of the novel, the two are close friends.  Catherine attends his birthday party, and they go to the school dance together.  

Cynthia Lord’s Rules is definitely appropriate for a middle school audience.  In fact, we read this book with our class of 8^th graders in our field placement.  Catherine’s quest for acceptance and friendship, though complicated by her brother’s autism, is one that students at this age can relate to.  Even students without a disabled sibling experience family issues or have things about their family situation that they would rather not share with the whole world.  Some students may be able to relate to Catherine’s life growing up with a disabled family member, but for those who cannot, this book is an engaging, accessible way to help students become aware of these issues and more accepting of diverse personal and familial situations.  The novel is a fairly easy read, and would work well for the middle school level.