Rules

Author: Cynthia Lord
Genre: Drama
# of pages: 200


Summary: Catherine is excited for the summer – her new next-door neighbors have a daughter her age, and she hopes that they will have lots of fun together. She is a little worried, though, about what the new girl will think of her family, especially her younger brother David who has autism.

Catherine sometimes feels that her parents forget about her because David needs so much attention, but she loves her brother. One of the ways that she shows her love for him is by making a list of rules to help him understand how he should act:

-If someone says “hi,” you say “hi” back.
-Sometimes people laugh when they like you. But sometimes they laugh to hurt you.
-No toys in the fish tank.

Not only does she teach David the right way to act, but when she runs into some surprises over the summer, she has to think about how she should act herself.

Rules is a book that is often funny, sometimes sad and uncomfortable, and definitely worth reading.

-Ms. Berens