April's
Discussion Group Book
Rules by
Cynthia Lord
Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life,
which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a
family that revolves around his disability. She’s spent years trying to
teach her brother, David, the rules from “a peach is not a funny-looking
apple” to “keep your pants on in public” — in order to head off David’s
embarrassing behaviors. But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a
surprising, new, sort-of friend, and Kristi, the potential next-door
friend she’s always wished for, it’s her own shocking behavior that
turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?
Filled with humor and warmth, Cynthia Lord’s debut novel takes a candid
and sensitive look at feeling different and finding acceptance — beyond
the rules.Cynthia Lord has been writing since high school. A mother of
two children, one of whom has autism, she says, “I wrote RULES to
explore some of my own questions about living with someone who sees the
world so differently than I do, but also to show a full experience of
family life with a child with autism: the happy moments, the
heartbreaking ones, the ones that make me laugh.” She lives with her
husband, children, and a Bichon Frise in an old house in coastal Maine.
Discussion Questions
for Rules |
 |
