Rules

Lord, Cynthia. 2006. Rules.

Rules is a story of friendship and patience. Catherine is used to having to help her younger brother, David, who is autistic cope with life. She’s accustomed to helping him create boundaries and provide rules or guidelines for him to help him know how to live and interact in the real world. Rules such as, “No toys in the fish tank” and “Keep your pants on in public.” But sometimes Catherine needs a few rules of her own. It is easy for Catherine to blame her friendless state on her brother or her family, but could the truth be that she doesn’t know that you have to be a friend before you can have a friend? It’s a learning process for Catherine as she makes a few new friends, and discovers her own weaknesses. Jason, her ‘special’ friend is wheelchair-bound and communicates by pointing to word cards, but he is the one who ends up teaching her some important life lessons.