Review of “Rules,” by Cynthia Lord
“Rules,” by Cynthia Lord is a touching story about a girl who must change her attitude about what is “normal” and learn to appreciate her autistic younger brother and a surprising new friend who is confined to a wheelchair.
Like most other twelve-year-olds Catherine wants to have friends and live a fairly normal life. Unfortunately, neither of these goals seem obtainable. Catherine’s autistic younger brother David always seems to chase off potential friends. When other girls learn about Catherine’s brother they treat her differently as well. Catherine’s parents tell her that if the other girls can’t accept David then they wouldn’t make good friends anyway.
But Catherine still wishes that her brother was normal. She tries to help him learn about the rules that normal seem to learn automatically. They are simple rules like “Keep you pants on in public,” and “Say ‘thank you’ when someone gives you a present (even if you don’t like it).” But David doesn’t seem to understand these simple things, and his interactions with other people are frequently embarrassing, and occasionally infuriating.
When a new girl named Kristi moves in next door. Kristi is about Catherine’s age, and seems to have similar interests. Catherine decides that she will try to make friends with her. Maybe if she can get David to remember the rules then this time he won’t interfere with Catherine’s efforts.
Around the same time Catherine meets a boy at the occupational therapy clinic that David attends. At first Catherine doesn’t view Jason as a friend. Jason is confined to a wheelchair. He communicates using a book full of word cards. He points to the cards one at a time to build sentences. Catherine doesn’t know quite what to think about Jason, but as she learns more about him, she finds herself wanting to make more word cards for Jason’s communication book.
Catherine feels that Jason needs more works like “Cool,” “Awesome,” and the ever useful phrase “Stinks a big one!” Jason needs more interesting kid words, not the boring words that adults have picked out for his communication book. Making more word cards for Jason brings her closer and closer to him.
However, Catherine finds it difficult to balance her growing friendships with both Kristi and Jason. She is afraid that if Kristi finds out about her friendship with Jason it will change things between them. As Catherine develops her dual friendships she will need to change some of the rules that she has been so staunch about for most of her life. Some of the rules that Catherine has made for herself aren’t right, and once she changes them she will be able to appreciate disabled Jason and her autistic brother David as they are, not as she wishes they could be.
“Rules” is a delightful book about the reactions and coping mechanisms for dealing with disabilities. Author Cynthia Lord encourages readers to consider their own reaction to people in wheelchairs or people with mental disabilities. Do you appreciate them or do you avoid them?
At the same time Cynthia Lord uses her main character Catherine to show what it is like to live with a mentally disabled sibling. Catherine’s embarrassment and alternating anger first towards her brother, then toward the people who tease and mistreat him, show that she loves him, but hasn’t learned to cope with her brother’s autism properly.
I recommend “Rules” for its sensitive plot and wonderful characters. Cynthia Lords “Rules” is a book that will help young readers understand disability and how to help those who have a disability better.
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