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Rules, a realistic fiction novel written by Cynthia Lord describes a young teen living with her autistic brother and the struggles she faces while trying to have an adventurous summer with a new friend and having to deal with the stigma attached to her brother. The main character, Catherine, matures throughout the book with how she deals with her brother, David, and how she begins to accept his disabilities. At first, she is very embarrassed by David and his actions in public, but through meeting a special friend, Jason, at occupational therapy (OT), she realizes how instead of getting annoyed with David’s behaviors, she should learn to accept them and view things more positively. From the beginning of the book it is clear how insecure Catherine feels about having a brother with autism. She takes care of him a lot, but is incredibly strict with him by trying to make set rules for everything he does. David does learn these rules, but as the book continues, it seems that the rules are more “helpful” for Catherine’s feelings then for David himself. We first see Catherine’s self consciousness appear when she has a new next door neighbor, a girl her age named Kristi. All Catherine wants is a friend for the summer since her best friend is not home. She hopes she can hide David from Kristi, fearing that he would scare her off and she would not want to be Catherine’s friend. However, when Kristi does meet David, she is not immediately scared off. An ongoing issue throughout the book is how frustrated Catherine gets that she was to babysit and help David more than (she feels) her parents do. Instead of viewing her time with David as special sibling bonding time, she views it as a burden, continuously thinking about what she could be doing if she did not have to be with her brother. The only time we see Catherine genuinely excited about being with David is when she goes with her mom to take David to OT. Catherine made a new friend there, Jason, who is a boy about her age in a wheelchair and is nonverbal. They communicate through Jason’s communications book, where Catherine takes it upon herself to draw and create new words to fill up Jason’s book. She surprises him each week with a set of new words to learn so they have a better way of talking and getting to know each other. Immediately, they form a close connection, each making the other jump out of their comfort zone in some way or another. Instead of viewing and treating Jason the way she treats David, Catherine truly treats him like her friend. When Jason said he wants to run, Catherine has the idea to take him outside in the parking lot, and run while pushing him, so he could get the rush and feeling of freedom. Jason invites Catherine to his birthday party, where she decides to spend all her savings to buy him a used guitar so he could practice making music. At his party, Jason decides to ask Catherine to the community dance that night, and when she hesitates and makes excuses, not only does he call her out but also he asks why she is embarrassed of him. This is the moment when Catherine finally puts into perspective how she treats Jason and David, and how she should. She realizes that just like her, they are normal people who deserve getting treated fairly. After apologizing and asking Jason to the dance, she explains to him that she realized it was never about being embarrassed of him, it was her own insecurity of how people would view her.

Lord does a fantastic job with introducing the reader into the mind of two boys with disabilities, but also, the perspectives of family members and friends who are very relevant in these kids’ lives. Rules was Cynthia Lord’s first novel, and has won two awards: the 2007 Newberry Honor Book award and the Schneider Family Book Award. She then went on to write three more young adult books. I feel as if this book if very eye opening but also heart warming to any reader. Even though it is meant for ages 8-12, I still found myself, a 20-year-old college student, laughing, crying, and truly connecting to all the characters in this novel. I think everyone should read this to get incite into families with children that have special needs, but also, to, like Catherine, discover how to treat people with disabilities. Without being too simple or too intense of a story, Lord creates characters and a plotline that every age can enjoy and understand.