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Rules (Newbery Honor Book) (Hardcover) (Hardcover)
by Cynthia Lord
| Category:
Children's book, Story, Family, Autistic child |
| Market price: ¥ 178.00
MSL price:
¥ 158.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
This is a story about a family that has an autistic child and a non autistic child-telling us to embrace differences and accepting people as they are. |
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Detail |
Author |
Description |
Excerpt |
Reviews |
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Author: Cynthia Lord
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pub. in: April, 2006
ISBN: 0439443822
Pages: 208
Measurements: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BC00423
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0439443821
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- Awards & Credential -
The winner of Newbery Honor and the Schneider Family Book Award in 2006. |
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- MSL Picks -
This is a great book for children in middle school to read. Cynthia Lord shows the reality of what it is like to live with disabilities and how everyone is affected by one. At an age where children are sure to tease others for being different, this book allows the reader to realize the diversity and how special everyone really is.
Target readers:
Kids aged up 8.
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When Cynthia Lord sat down to write her first children's book, she knew it would be a middle-grade novel. As she recalls, "I grew up next to a lake in New Hampshire and I remember being ten years old, lying on our pier, listening to the seagulls calling, and daydreaming about Borrowers and Chocolate Factories and Secret Gardens.
"Though I have children of my own now, when I write it's always for that daydreaming girl I used to be."
In her debut novel Rules, published by Scholastic Press, twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life, which is near impossible with a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. Filled with humor and warmth, Rules takes a candid and sensitive look at feeling different and finding acceptance-beyond the rules.
And as the mother of two teenagers, one of whom has autism, it's world Cynthia knows well. "A family that includes a child with severe special needs has unique dynamics, and I wanted to both explore and celebrate that difference."
A former teacher and bookseller, Cynthia still enjoys lying on a pier, reading a good book. And she hears plenty of seagulls at her home near the ocean in Maine, where she lives with her husband and their two children.
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Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. Which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. She's spent years trying to teach David the rules-from "a peach is not a funny-looking apple" to "keep your pants on in public"-in order to stop his embarrassing behaviors. But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a paraplegic boy, and Kristi, the next-door friend she's always wished for, it's her own shocking behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?
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| View all 10 comments |
Emily Kate (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-25 00:00>
Yesterday I read this beautiful book. Rules by Cynthia Lord is a poignant story showing a slice of 12-year-old Catherine's life. Her brother, David has autism. Catherine lovingly makes up rules to help him get through life. Things that other people figure out for themselves, David must be taught. Some of the rules include "If the bathroom door is closed, knock (especially if Catherine has a friend over)!", "Keep your pants on! Unless Mom, Dad, or the doctor tells you to take them off.", and "No toys in the fish tank."
Catherine is not only a sister to David, though. She is an artist, a daughter, a friend. When a new girl moves next door, Catherine is hopeful that they will become good friends. But she is embarrassed to say anything about David. She also develops a close bond with a handicapped boy who cannot speak or walk. She draws pictures for him to help him communicate.
Cynthia Lord has done an incredible job tackling a heavy topic. The book is laced with both humor and tenderness.
I highly recommend this book for all ages.
As you can see, Rules won a Newbery Honor and the Schneider Family Book Award in 2006. |
A Kid's Review (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-25 00:00>
Can you imagine a life where your older sister writes a set of rules for you, so you don't embarrass her? Or on the flip side, can you imagine having a younger autistic brother who might pull off his pants in public? In the realistic fiction novel Rules by Cynthia Lord, twelve-year old Catherine deals with accepting her autistic brother for how he is and meeting her new friends.
Catherine is an ordinary girl who doesn't know how to deal with having an autistic brother. Continuously wishing for a "normal brother," Catherine writes a set of rules for David such as "chew with your mouth closed," or "if the bathroom door is closed, knock" (especially if Catherine has a friend over), so one day he just might "wake up a regular brother." Catherine usually accompanies her mom when David goes to Occupational Therapy, where David learns different games and tasks like jumping on a trampoline. She meets a fourteen or fifteen year old boy name Jason, who can't talk and is in a wheelchair. He uses a communication book to speak. In his book are various cards which have a word or a phrase on it. Many times his sentences aren't proper and don't have helping verbs such as is, did, and does. This is a particular sentence which explains his lack of language arts skills, What? Guinea pig.Eat., when someone else says this sentence it comes out to be What does Guinea pigs eat?
Also, Catherine has a new neighbor name Kristi who she has to accept. Kristi hangs out with Ryan, a boy who makes fun of David; Catherine has a hard time trying to be cool around her as well. Catherine also has a hard time accepting Kristi into her life because she's afraid of what she'll think of David. Catherine is a protective sister but at the same time she just wants to fit in. Catherine has to accept these three people in her life and also tries to find herself through the process.
I would recommend this book to kids between the ages of 10-14. This book would suit someone who wants to learn about a normal girl with disabilities shown in her life. Cynthia Lord's book was based on her life having a child with autism and another who doesn't. Cynthia is portraying life through the eyes of the forgotten child; when a disability such as autism is present and all the attention goes towards that child. After reading this book, I hope you'll view life with an autistic or disabled child differently. This book is phenomenal!
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-25 00:00>
Like many of the books involving autistic children, this focuses on a pre-teen sister of a boy with autism. It does cover some of the behavior involved with her brother, the embarassment she feels when he does things he should not in public, and her friendship with a boy suffering from another disability in depth from her point of view.
The story is as seen from a young girl's eyes. I'm having my daughter read it since her brother has autism, to see if it helps her. I think she'll enjoy it, and maybe write down some rules of her own, though our autistic child is not nearly so developed as David in the book. |
John Burns (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-25 00:00>
This book is a study more than a story. Yes there is a story in the study, but the study of a family that has an autistic child and a non autistic child. Autism is incredibly difficult on a family that wants to have a normal social life but perhaps even more difficult on the "normal" child who must spend many devoted hours a day babysitting the sibling that never grows up, but lives by rules. Without "rules" in the autistic child would have so much more difficulty living in the world of "normal people."
The real value I see in this book is the study of what the family must go through to raise the autistic child. Through this study we learn to appreciate that family's capacity love - outside of what is normal. The book even goes so far as to ask the reader, what normal is.
If you or someone in your family has to deal with children with autism, either in or outside your home, then this is an important book to read. If you feel the need to know more about how a family struggles to stay together and the burden that an autistic child places on the family unit, or if you want to read about the extraordinary tolerance, the frustration and the sometime uncanny wit that might occur because of the autistic child - than this book is for you.
I am giving this book 4 stars because it makes us aware of the sensitivity of the subject matter.
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