Rules

Twelve-year-old Catherine creates rules to help her autistic brother David navigate daily life and maintain appropriate behavior. The story follows her experiences balancing family responsibilities, including taking David to occupational therapy appointments, with her desire to pursue new friendships and social connections. At occupational therapy, Catherine meets Jason, a nonverbal boy in a wheelchair who communicates through word cards, and she begins making new cards to help expand his communication abilities. Meanwhile, she attempts to build a friendship with Kristi, her new next-door neighbor, while managing concerns about how others perceive her family. The novel explores themes of acceptance, understanding, and the complex dynamics of sibling relationships when one sibling has a disability. Through Catherine's journey, the story examines what it means to be "normal" and how rules both help and limit our connections with others.

Readers praise Rules for its honest portrayal of living with a sibling who has autism, with many parents and siblings of autistic children saying it reflects their experiences. Teachers report it helps students understand and empathize with classmates who have disabilities. Likes: - Realistic family dynamics and sibling relationships - Age-appropriate handling of complex topics - Strong character development of the protagonist - Educational value for middle grade readers Dislikes: - Some readers found the resolution too neat - A few felt the autism representation was oversimplified - Pacing drags in middle sections Ratings: Goodreads: 4.1/5 (57,000+ ratings) Amazon: 4.7/5 (1,300+ ratings) Common Sense Media: 4/5 Notable reader comment: "As a mom of an autistic child, this book made me cry because someone finally got it right" - Amazon reviewer The book appears on many school reading lists and won the Newbery Honor in 2007.

Wonder by R. J. Palacio A fifth-grade boy with facial differences navigates school life, friendship, and family relationships while teaching others about acceptance and understanding.

Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper An eleven-year-old girl with cerebral palsy breaks barriers and changes perspectives when she joins her school's trivia competition team.

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt A sixth-grade girl with dyslexia discovers her strengths with the help of a new teacher who shows her that different types of minds can solve problems in different ways.

Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin A girl with high-functioning autism uses her love of homonyms and rules to cope with changes in her life when her dog goes missing during a storm.

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine A girl with Asperger's syndrome works to understand the world around her after losing her brother in a school shooting.

🌟 The novel earned its author Cynthia Lord a Schneider Family Book Award, which specifically recognizes works that highlight the disability experience. 🌟 Lord drew inspiration from her own experiences as a mother of a child with autism, bringing authentic details to Catherine's story. 🌟 The book's collection of "rules" includes real guidelines that many families with autistic children use, such as "If someone says 'hi,' you say 'hi' back." 🌟 The character Jason uses an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) book - a tool widely used in real life by individuals who are nonverbal. 🌟 Despite being Lord's first novel, Rules spent 14 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and has been incorporated into many school curricula nationwide.