"Rules"

This award winning read is about a young girl named Catherine and her relationships between her younger brother, David, who has autism, the new neighbor girl Kristi and a mute paraplegic boy named Jason. The reader sees into Catherine and David’s relationship through the rules she writes for him which happen to be the titles of each chapter. Catherine also feels jealous of her brother though who tends to get more of his parents attention. Catherine at times despises her brother as he complicates her efforts as she tries to build a friendship with Kristi. Christine life becomes more complicated but enriched as she also builds an unlikely friendship with Jason. This book would be a wonderful addition to a diverse library because of the realistic approach to introducing autism. This book is different because it focuses more on Catherine’s life rather than David’s life. It allows the reader to see David from a different point of view. The portrayal of David that Cynthia Lord writes is one of the reasons this book is so highly recommended. “Rules” has won many awards including the Newbery Award and the Schenieder Family Book Award, an award created especially to award those books that deal with disabilities. Written by a mother of an autistic child, this story is authentic. As Catherine helps Jason communicate better by using her art skills to create better cards for him to tap on, the reader watches Catherine grow. By the end of the book, we have seen Catherine grow with acceptance, understanding and love. I not only recommend this book but will include it in my diverse library.