Rules is the debut novel by American author Cynthia Lord. Released by Scholastic, Inc. in 2006, it was a Newbery Honor book in 2007. It is also a Sunshine State Young Readers book for 2008–2009 and won the Schneider Family Book Award.
Her daughter asked her one day, "Mom, how come I never see families like mine in books and on TV?" Cynthia didn't know how to answer her daughter. She then set out to look for children's books that included characters with severe special needs. She found some, but most of them seemed really sad.
Cynthia said, "Sadness is part of living with someone with a severe disability, but it's only one part. It can also be funny, inspiring, heartwarming, disappointing, frustrating-everything it is to love anyone and to live with any family."
The story is about twelve-year-old Catherine who has conflicting feelings about her younger brother, David, who is autistic. While she loves him, she is also embarrassed by his behavior and feels neglected by their parents. In an effort to keep life on an even keel, Catherine creates rules for him (it's okay to hug Mom but not the clerk at the video store). Each chapter title is also a rule, and lots more are interspersed throughout the book.
When Kristi moves in next door, Catherine hopes that the girl will become a friend, but is anxious about her reaction to David. Then Catherine meets and befriends Jason, a nonverbal paraplegic who uses a book of pictures to communicate, she begins to understand that normal is difficult, and perhaps unnecessary, to define. Rules of behavior are less important than acceptance of others.
Lord has 2 children, one of whom has autism, and she has stated that Rules explores that family dynamic. The character David is based loosely on her son, including several incidents in the book. Moreover, the character of James is based on her husband experiences growing up and the character of Jason was inspired by an experience she had watching a child in a wheelchair communicating with his mother. The first line she wrote of Rules was “At our house, we have a rule,”.
Her daughter asked her one day, "Mom, how come I never see families like mine in books and on TV?" Cynthia didn't know how to answer her daughter. She then set out to look for children's books that included characters with severe special needs. She found some, but most of them seemed really sad.
Cynthia said, "Sadness is part of living with someone with a severe disability, but it's only one part. It can also be funny, inspiring, heartwarming, disappointing, frustrating-everything it is to love anyone and to live with any family."
The story is about twelve-year-old Catherine who has conflicting feelings about her younger brother, David, who is autistic. While she loves him, she is also embarrassed by his behavior and feels neglected by their parents. In an effort to keep life on an even keel, Catherine creates rules for him (it's okay to hug Mom but not the clerk at the video store). Each chapter title is also a rule, and lots more are interspersed throughout the book.
When Kristi moves in next door, Catherine hopes that the girl will become a friend, but is anxious about her reaction to David. Then Catherine meets and befriends Jason, a nonverbal paraplegic who uses a book of pictures to communicate, she begins to understand that normal is difficult, and perhaps unnecessary, to define. Rules of behavior are less important than acceptance of others.
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