#tbt: Rules by Cynthia Lord

Image: Scholastic

Rules by Cynthia Lord. 224 p. Scholastic Inc., February, 2007. 9780439443821. (Own.)

#tbt features Rules by Cynthia Lord. Rules was Ms. Lord's debut novel and won both a Newbery Honor and the Schneider Family Book Award in 2007. It is the story of a twelve-year-old girl named Catherine, who is regularly embarrassed by her brother, who has autism. She creates a list of rules he must follow and he does try. The question is, "What is normal, really?" Rules is loosely based on her own family. She has two children, a girl and a boy. Her son is autistic and her daughter was often embarrassed by him. Her many novels gently explore issues and almost always are rooted in themes of kindness.