A Fascinating Window into Life with an Autistic Sibling

books:

	• Rules (Newbery Honor Book) Cynthia Lord Scholastic Press, 2006 - 208 pages average customer review:based on 76 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Rules of the road

When you read a bad book, the aftermath of the experience can leave you shell-shocked for quite a long period of time. Not too long ago I came across the regrettable "The Boy Who Ate Stars" by Kochka and I had a hard time recovering. Kochka, in my view, approached the subject of autism in children as a kind of wild kids-in-touch-with-their-animal side type of story. The whole project left me disappointed and wary of any books written with child audiences in mind that dealt with autism. But then I saw "RULES" and I became sorely tempted to give it a go. From its thoroughly engaging cover (you hear me publishers?) to its incredible characters, smart plotting, and all around classy style, I would recommend this book to any and every child I ran across. This is how it's done people. This is how you write a first novel.

Now where to begin? I suppose if you asked Catherine herself she'd begin with David. Everyone else seems to after all. David's eight and autistic. I'm sure you've heard stories of autistic children and the difficulties they have dealing with the world around them, but has anyone ever stopped to consider the problems their older sisters face? Sisters like Catherine who'd do anything to have a "normal" life with a "normal" little brother. Not that Catherine isn't a good sister to David. She's constantly creating rules for him that will, ideally, help him deal with the real world. Now a new girl has moved in next door to Catherine and her family. She would love to make Kristi a friend, but there's always the threat that this new girl would be overly freaked out by David. And then there's Jason, the wheelchair bound boy she knows from Jason's occupational therapy visits. Pretty soon Catherine's going to have to decide what kind of a friend she's really looking for. And the answer may not be the one she has either expected or wanted.

Lord cleverly begins each chapter heading with one of the rules Catherine has concocted for David's convenience. Of course, not all the rules apply to David. Some of them are the kids of things Catherine has come up with to get by in life. For example there's, "If you don't want to do something, say, `Hmmm. I'll think about it' and maybe the asker will forget the whole bad idea". My favorite chapter heading? The one that completely does away with any pretense that these rules are actually for David. In short, "Pantless brothers are not my problem". Nuff said.

One of the many things I loved about this book was how Lord chose to present David. I am so sick of the autistic/handicapped/mentally challenged children's book character that has to act out the standard saintly two-dimensional role too long carved out in literature. David is a real kid. Yeah, he has autism. Sure. But he also cares deeply for his sister, even to the point where he can engage in a little fishtank-related mischief on the side. Catherine has a rule that there should be no toys in the fish tank. Yet turn around for half a second and there goes David tossing a Barbie or other toy in the briny depths. Younger brother annoyances pure and simple. And Catherine, for her part, is just as real a kid. Do you think she wants to constantly hang out with and babysit her little brother when she'd rather be out getting a new best friend? Heck no! Her attitude towards her little brother is incredibly realistic. On the one hand she'd love it if, "someone would invent a pill so David'd wake up one morning without autism". But then she's really a good sister who willingly tags along to her brother's occupational therapy sessions.

Some people I've discussed "RULES" with were a little put out that Lord never comes and out says why Jason is the way he is. He sound paraplegic to me, but that's just a guess. Also, it was very interesting how Lord chose to have Catherine want desperately to have Kristi as a friend, even though her real best friend would be back at the end of the summer. Why didn't the book make Catherine one hundred percent friendless? Would that have made her seem too desperate or pandering for attention? Hard to say.

In the end, the real key to the charm of "RULES" is the book's accessibility. This is a fun read. A fun, not too long, not too drawn out read. It doesn't preach and it doesn't simplify. What it does do is present an original story from a unique perspective. I would be intrigued to hear what real siblings of autistic children think of Lord's work. One of the rare well-written works of literature for young 'uns that kids may actually want to read and reread. In the same class as, "Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key".

for more information click here

A Fascinating Window into Life with an Autistic Sibling

RULES is the story of 12-year-old Catherine, whose life is defined in large part by her relationship with her autistic younger brother David. David is unable to intuit the rules of acceptable behavior, the way that other people are, and Catherine has to come up with a list of rules for him. She has other rules of her own, and these are used for chapter titles in the book.

According to her bio, Cynthia Lord is the mother of two children, one of whom has autism. Her real-world experience in, as she puts it, "living with someone who sees the world so differently than I do" allows her to give Catherine's character authenticity. Catherine rails against both her parents and fate for the problems that she has to deal with in caring for her brother. She laments especially the way David gets so much more parental attention than she does. Despite her frustration, however, she also loves her brother, and has a special bond with him that's unique to the two of them. I love the way they converse with one another using lines from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel.

As if Catherine's life wasn't complicated enough by her brother, she befriends a boy of her own age named Jason. Jason is in a wheelchair, and is unable to speak. His brain is all there, though, and he communicates by pointing at little cards in a communication book. Catherine, a budding artist, makes him more cards for his book, so that he can have a wider of range of things to talk about. She only gradually comes to see Jason as a person, and a potential friend, rather than as some sort of charity project. In some ways, her relationship with her brother has prepared her for having a friendship with someone else who is different and has trouble communicating. On the other hand, she struggles with having yet another association that makes her seem unusual to the other kids in the neighborhood.

I found RULES a fascinating window into the world of having a sibling with autism. It makes having normal rambunctious younger brothers and sisters seem easy by comparison (though it certainly didn't seem easy when I was twelve). It evokes humor and sympathy, and it explores sticking up for yourself and others vs. fitting in. I think that it will be a hit with 9 to 12 year olds, especially those with pesky younger brothers and sisters, or who have things about their families that make them different. And who doesn't, when you look deep enough?

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on June 9th, 2006.

for more information click here

A Very Worthwhile Read

"Rules", by Cynthia Lord, is told from the perspective of Catherine, the 12-year-old sister of David, an autistic 8-year-old. Catherine, at 12, is dealing with finding a place in a family that seems to be centered around coping with David's needs for comfort and development. Catherine's mom is divided between managing a home business (leaving Catherine to care for David) and providing David the care and developmental therapy he needs. Catherine's dad seems to be mostly coping with his own difficulty with accepting the parenting cards he's been dealt and possibly with his own austistic-like tendencies. Neither parent, though they both clearly love Catherine, appears to have the emotional resources to cope with any of Catherine's issues. In a sense, she is expected not to have any and to participate in a semi-adult capacity in therapeutic care for David. Meanwhile, Catherine is confronting her own, normal, 12-year-old girl issues--how far should she go against her own needs and wishes to go along with her friends, who should her friends be, how to cope with mean kids, what to do with her summer when her best friend is away.

What I really like about this novel is that the characters are allowed to be complex. Though Catherine's parents are, in a way, terribly neglectful of her needs, they aren't portrayed as bad parents so much as people coping as well as they can with a difficult situation and making some mistakes in doing so. For example, there are a number of times in the novel where David is waiting for his father to come home from work and take him on an outing. David expects his father at five and becomes very distressed when he isn't home by five. Catherine notes, that while she can understand that her father is characteristically late, David can't. Reading this, I couldn't help but wonder, as Catherine didn't, wouldn't one think her father could be expected to control his tendency to be late in this instance rather than repeatedly distress his son and force his daughter to cope with this distress on a regular basis? Why is it that Catherine can understand why it is difficult for David to cope with his father's lateness, but her father can't? Another good example is in Catherine's new neighbor, Kristie, a girl Catherine would like to be friends with, but whom she immediately senses will be much `cooler' than she is. Kristie, it turns out, isn't a mean girl, and it's clear she's dealing with her own issues, but she probably isn't going to be real friend material for Catherine. I also liked Catherine's relationship with Jason, a wheel-chair bound boy about her own age. She is attracted to him, but isn't sure she wants to take on more relationships complicated by disability. Jason, though unable to communicate without the use of written cards and symbols, manages to be a pretty real adolescent. He isn't perfect- he sulks and can be manipulative. Still, the reader can see why Catherine might find him compelling.

If there is anything that seems unrealistic about the book, it is that Catherine is, maybe, too understanding. She pretty much accepts that her parents aren't able to be there for her emotionally as much as she might like them to be and is, for the most part, willing to accept what they can offer. She accepts her disappointment that new neighbor, Kristie, is probably not going to be much of a friend without hating her. She is able to accept that a friendship with Jason is going to be complicated. Most of all, she loves her brother with all of his limitations, while understanding that if she could turn him into a "normal" boy, she would.

"Rules" is actually a pretty upbeat book. In general, Catherine seems secure and confident in her ability to handle problems. Although she is coping with a number of issues, she clearly loves her family, has friends she cares about, and interests and talents outside the scope of caring for/worrying about her brother and is absolutely free of self-pity. This would probably be a great book for young adolescents coping with family issues. I highly recommend it.

for more information click here

Wonderful

As an avid reader, the daughter of a writer, and the older sister of an autistic teenage boy, I have waited a long time for a novel as good as this one. The writing is excellent, the story really resonates, and the writer is able to create characters that can teach without ever sounding preachy. This author clearly knows both the challenges and the unique rewards that autistic children and their families encounter. Putting the subject matter aside, this is an excellent read; the fact that it treats this difficult subject with so much care and warmth--and realism--is an added bonus. I hope this book makes it onto many a person's reading list.

for more information click here

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

You can always tell when you're reading a book that has a basis in truth. With RULES, author Cynthia Lord writes about what it's like to live with autism, and she should know, since she has an autistic child.

That ring of truth is there, in every word, when you read the story of twelve-year old Catherine and her autistic younger brother, David.David hates loud noises. If there's a cloud in the sky, he has to take his red umbrella with him. If his dad says he'll be home at five o'clock, David starts going crazy at five-oh-one. He likes to rewind his movie of Thomas the Tank Engine to his favorite part, over and over and over again. His favorite place to visit is the video store, where he'll even lay on the floor to read the back of the movie box a stranger is holding in his hand. And he knows all the words to Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad.

For Catherine, though, it's a much different story. She hates the way people stare at her brother, or even worse, refuse to look at him at all. She's jealous of the time David gets to spend, one-on-one, with their pharmacist father. She hates David's rules, the strict adherence to which he is obsessed with them, and yet she makes new rules for him every time she thinks of something else he needs to know.

Catherine copes by drawing, and one day she decides to draw the boy in the wheelchair who is in the waiting room with her at Occupational Therapy. David goes there once a week to work with a therapist, and so does the boy who doesn't speak but instead uses a book of word cards to communicate. When Catherine offers to make Jason, the boy in the wheelchair, some new cards with pictures, an unlikely friendship is born. Catherine is also excited about Kristi, her new next-door neighbor, but soon finds out that friendship is a complicated matter.

How do you protect a brother that often annoys you? How can you be friends with the beautiful girl next door and yet be ashamed to admit your friend Jason doesn't talk and is in a wheelchair? How do you make your father understand that you matter, too? How do you tell your mother that even though David needs his own words, Frog and Toad is a special communication between a brother and sister that love each other? RULES isn't just a book about autism, but rather a look into the complexities of a family relationship. An excellent read for anyone who has ever had to deal with someone who is just a little bit different than everyone else.

for more information click here

reviews: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, page 14, 15, 16

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

Newbery Medal and Honor Books That I Actually Enjoyed Reading
Sunshine State Readers 2008-09 Grades 3-5
2008-2009 Sunshine State Books (6-8)
Rebecca Caudill Nominees 09
Learning About Autism

search for books
book, honor, newbery, rules

Impressum / about us