A Review of RULES by Cynthia Lord

Bibliography

Lord, Cynthia. 2006. Rules. New York, NY. Scholastic Press. ISBN 0439443822.

Plot Summary

Twelve-year-old Catherine is standing at the edge of a summer ripe with possibilities: a new neighbor moving in next door, and a new friend in an unexpected place. While joining her mother and her brother David for his visits to an occupational therapist, Catherine meets Jason. Jason is confined to a wheelchair and only able to communicate by pointing at words and pictures in a book. Still, a friendship blooms during their brief visits in the clinic waiting room.

Then Catherine meets Kristi, her sure-to-be-popular new neighbor and her summer is off. But within everything, is David. Eight year-old David is autistic and Catherine just wants a normal life. In an attempt to reach normal, Catherine keeps a list of rules for David in the back of her sketchbook: “You can yell on a playground, but not during dinner. A boy can take off his shirt to swim, but not his shorts.” She struggles to help David learn the rules and balance her new friendships. When Kristi suggests that Catherine invite Jason to a dance, Catherine is torn, afraid her new, and old, friends will make fun of Jason. In the end, Catherine breaks her own rule and learns that sometimes you simply have to accept life as it is.

Critical Analysis

Cynthia Lord takes us on a journey through the world of disabilities, as seen through the eyes of a family member. She reaches into the heart of the middle school quest for normalcy and fear of difference and reminds us that, “Sometimes, you’ve gotta work with what you’ve got.” As Catherine attempts to help her brother David learn the rules of life, she struggles with her own rules. She clearly loves and cares for David, but also worries deeply about how others see him, and as a result, her family. It is this concern for appearances and desire to fit in that will resonate with young readers.

When Catherine meets Jason in the therapy clinic waiting room, she must explore her concerns from a new perspective. She didn’t get to choose her brother, but what will her friends think if she invites Jason, in his wheelchair, to the dance? Lord honestly portrays Catherine’s turmoil through-out the story, as well as her new-found strength when she finally reaches her decision.
While exploring Catherine’s ambivalence, Lord never leaves the reader questioning Catherine’s love for David. Through-out the book, they share lines from Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad stories in their own language and following their rules: “If you don’t have the words you need, borrow someone else’s.” and “If you need to borrow words, Arnold Lobel has some good ones.” In the end Catherine realizes that she may never find a “normal” life, but what she has can be enough.

Awards and Reviews

Newbery Honor Book

From School Library Journal: Rules of behavior are less important than acceptance of others. Catherine is an endearing narrator who tells her story with both humor and heartbreak.

From Booklist: The details of autistic behavior are handled well, as are depictions of relationships: Catherine experiences some of the same unease with Jason that others do in the presence of her brother.

Connections

Read another book about someone with a disability and compare the experiences and events included.