2007 Newbery Honor Book: Rules by Cynthia Lord

While reading Rules, I experienced a plethora of emotions that ranged from joy to sadness and even frustration. Rules is a heart-warming, realistic story that deals with the importance of accepting the differences of others. This book tells the story of a family whose eight-year-old son, David, has autism. David's autistic behaviors were evident throughout the book. For example, David was sensitive to sounds, obsessed with time, lacked the ability to initiate conversations, took everything literally, and was very regimented with his activities. Twelve-year-old Catherine, David's sister, had conflicting emotions about her brother. On one hand, she engaged in acts of love when she made rules to help her brother better function in the world, took up for him against an obnoxious boy named Ryan, and fixed his cassette tape several times so he could listen to Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad Together. On the other hand, when David did things to embarrass Catherine, such as opening up doors at other people's houses or pulling his pants down, she became frustrated, annoyed, and even sensitive to their different sort of life. When accompanying her mother to David's occupational therapy session, she met and became friends with Jason, a boy confined to a wheelchair who used a book filled with words and pictures to communicate. As Catherine assisted in adding words and pictures to his communication book and the more time she spent with him, the more Catherine learned about her own feelings and the feelings of others.
This children's book is great! I would definitely recommend this book to upper elementary and middle school students. I found myself sharing what was happening in the story to my husband. Cynthia Lord does an amazing job of allowing the reader to get an inside look at the innermost thoughts and emotions of the characters in the story. I was also able to gain a better perspective of what a family like this goes through because I was able to obtain a glimpse of their daily struggles and emotions. Furthermore, an awareness of the reality of this story touched my heart. I found myself thinking how blessed I am and how often I take things, like being able to walk and talk, for granted. Also, I couldn't help but be reminded of my three year old nephew and what life would be like if he were to be diagnosed with autism.
Thousands upon thousands of families deal with similar situations found in this book. I believe it is wonderful that through children's literature, stories of sensitive, real life issues can be passionately conveyed to others. Also, through this piece of children's literature, I was able to learn more about a disease somewhat unfamiliar to me.
Interestingly, Rules is Cynthia Lord's first children's book. Her website revealed another book, Touch Blue, coming out soon.