Rules

Rules

Lord, C. (2008). Rules. NY: Scholastic Press.

Catherine is almost a teenager. Although her mother, is around, she helps with her brother David a lot who is autistic. Catherine creates lot of rules for David to keep him out of trouble. As the summer progresses, a new girl named Kristi moves in next door. She desperately wants to be friends with her. Also, during the summer she meets Jason at the rehab center that David goes to. Jason is confined to a wheelchair, is deformed physically and can not speak. Catherine continues to befriend both Kristi and Jason. There is a dance coming up and Catherine is ashamed to ask Jason to be her date because the boy Kristi wants to take has belittled her brother in the past. She thinks she is off the hook when the dance conflicts with Jason’s birthday party. Jason hears about the party and ask Catherine if she’d like to go. She hesitates but finally agrees. Once at the dance, Kristi is rude to Jason because of his disabilities. In that moment she realizes that Jason is her true friend and they dance the night away, wheelchair and all.

This is a book about acceptance. Even though Catherine deals with her brother’s disability on a daily basis, she still has some shame . Its almost as if she is leading a double left when she is with Kristi or Jason separately. As she mature, she realizes what and who are important and worth her time.

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Rules