Rules

By: Cynthia Lord

Published by Scholastic Press, 2006

Reading Level: Lexile 780

Independent Read, 4.5

Accepting, Inspiring, Heartwarming, Eye-Opening, Insightful

 

"The appealing, credible narrator at the heart of Lord's debut novel will draw in readers, as she struggles to find order and balance in her life.... A rewarding story that may well inspire readers to think about others' points of view." -- Publishers Weekly

 

Twelve year old Catherine is beginning her summer vacation which is not starting off the way she imagined. The book opens up with a rainy day as Catherine is leaving the house with her eight year old brother David and mother to the clinic for his occupational therapy. David has Autism and Catherine has difficulty adjusting to the behaviors David displays in public as well as the special treatment their parents give to David and not her. Catherine has a sketchbook and in the back pages she keeps the rules she teaches David so that he'll know how the world works. At the clinic she meets and becomes good friends with Jason who cannot speak and is in a wheelchair. Jason uses a communication book that has words on paper squares. Catherine whom loves to draw begins to add pictures to the words to show meaning and creates new words to put in Jason’s book so that they can have more in depth conversations. Kristi is Catherine's new next door neighbor, as well as friend, and Catherine is scared to tell Kristi of her also new friend Jason because he is in a wheelchair.

Rules is all about accepting everyone and inspires those to help someone who is in need. The book allows you to open your heart to this family and other families you may know whom have children with disabilities and the challenges they deal with daily.

 

Key Vocabulary:

There were about 5 words the students should have a clear definition of before reading the book: clinic, shrieks, occupational therapy, sketchbook, speech therapist. These words were repeated throughout the book and without knowing what the words mean it would be difficult for your students to fully comprehend the book.

Teaching Suggestions -

Before reading: Explain to your students what Autism is. Autism is a brain development disorder and those with Autism often have trouble with making sense of the world. This is exactly like David and why Catherine writes all these rules in the back of her sketchbook. Such as, 'If someone says "hi" you say "hi" back. No toys in the fish tank.' Inform your students that those with Autism also make repetitive motions. For additional information have your students or yourself go to http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/ brain/autism.html. The site allows your students to read and make sense of what Autism is, the causes, and symptoms all by themselves. 

 

During Reading:  Allow your students to research the behaviors that Jason shows. The students may then present what the disability is, the causes, and symptoms. Doing this you can turn it into a project and give your students different disabilities that they can look up in small groups and can use kidshealth.org for information. If a student is able to relate they are more than welcomed to present the symptoms of whom they know and how it links to the disability they have based on the research they have conducted.

After Reading: Engage in discussion with your students of accepting those who are different than them. Connect it to diversity and how we all come from different backgrounds but shouldn't judge someone by the color of their skin or their families values even though they are different than the ones your students grew up to know. The same ‘rules’ goes to those with disabilities.

 

Electronic Resources -
 

Authors Site: Cynthia Lord talks about her life and where the writing all began. Ms. Lord provides contact information for school visits prior to the school year or during and keeps a calendar of where she may be doing some nearby appearances.

Behind The Book: A blog by Cynthia Lord telling us of how the idea of writing the book Rules began. As well as various resources for parents and siblings who have a child with special needs. This can be shared with students for background information.

 

"A honest and frequently funny portrayal of what it's like to have a sibling with autism at an age when being accepted is so important."-- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette