Rules

Anyone who knows me knows I care a lot about Special Needs. That’s one reason I loved the book, Rules, by Cynthia Lord.

The story is about Catherine, who is often stuck caring for her autistic brother while her mother works at home.

When she accompanies them to therapy appointments, she meets and becomes friends with another boy, who uses a wheelchair and can’t speak.

But she hardly gets any attention from her parents because her brother seems to get it all.

And Catherine wants to have some normal friendships, especially with the new neighbor since her best friend is away for the Summer. How can she do that when her life is so abnormal?

Kids who read this well-written book will be drawn into her life and become eager to find out how she handles her problems. And they’ll learn to understand and, hopefully, accept people who are different from themselves.

Rules

I recently read Rules by Cynthia Lord and absolutely loved it! The book is about a girl who must deal with an autistic brother but it's also about friendship, relationships between kids, and belonging.

Rules won the Schneider Family Book Award in 2006. That award is for books that help readers understand and accept people with disabilities and it certainly deserves the award. (One of my books, Signs of Trouble was nominated for that award in 2010, but didn't win.)

I love Cynthia Lord's book and hope lots of middle grade kids will read Rules.