Rules

Lord, C. (2006). Rules. New York: Scholastic.

In this book, Catherine is the big sister that helps her younger brother while her parents have to work to support the family.  It seems pretty normal except that her brother has autism and this makes things harder to deal with.  When Catherine meets Jason, who is disabled, she finds out the real meaning of normal.  

Evaluation Criteria: Theme and Character

The major themes in this book are friendship, honesty, acceptance and diversity. Catherine who is twelve years old has a major dilemma.  As much as she loves her brother, she hates that he embarrasses her.  While at therapy with her brother, she meets and becomes friends with Jason who also has a disability.  He is in a wheelchair and is mute.  She also meets her new next door neighbor who ends up liking Ryan, the boy that makes fun of her brother.  She wants to be normal and fit in, so Catherine lies and eventually this creates the main conflict of the story.  As the story progresses, she eventually faces the truth and her character grows and changes.  She realizes that being different is part of being normal.

Book Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V3U5eNXIyQ

Lesson Ideas:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/rules-storia-teaching-guide