Power point made by, Ian
and Jerry
12 year old Catherine has no chance of having a normal life. Her eight year old brother,
David, is autistic and her best friend, Melissa went to California for the summer. So now
she has no one to play with. Then everything changes when her new neighbor, Kristi
moves in. Kristi is a totally popular girl, but she is very nice. Catherine tries to make
friends with her, but somehow, David ruins every chance. When Catherine meets Jason,
a boy with disabilities that limits him from walking, talking, or controlling his body, she
totally changes. Jason has a communication book, with words for him to point at, this
way he can communicate. Catherine decides to put more words into his communication
book so that he can communicate easier. After a while they start to become friends.
Jason then asks her to come to his birthday party. Unfortunately Jason’s birthday party is
on the same day on the dance that Kristi invited her to. If you like happy endings in your
books, then Rules By Cynthia Lord is the book for you.
The setting in this book is during the summer in Maine, near
the coastal line.
The rising action in the book “ Rules” by Cynthia Lord is when
Kristi, her new neighbor moves in next to her. Catherine tries to be
nice to Kristi, but they are not alike, Kristi very bold and popular,
but Catherine is more of a sensitive and shy person. When
Catherine meets Jason, they become friends. The problem is Jason
has a disease that limits him from walking or talking. So when
Catherine wants to take Jason to the dance, she is a little
embarrassed. But still when Catherine tries to make friends with
Catherine, David ruins every chance.
The big problem in this story is her autistic brother David.
David ruins every chance by doing something crazy. Catherine
can’t get as many friends this way. Also Catherine always has to
babysit David and make rules for him to prevent him from
wrecking the house. It doesn’t help either that the Dad is always
late, and David always expects everyone to be on time.
Catherine has always felt sensitive near Jason, but one day she
takes a run with him on his wheelchair, and she notices that he
is actually a great friend. Jason eventually invites her to his
birthday party. Catherine agrees to go to the birthday party. At
the party Jason gets mad at her because he asks if she wants to
go to the dance with her, accept she is embarrassed because he
is in a wheelchair. When Catherine gets home she feels bad so
she calls his Mom to ask him to come to the dance.
Catherine is nervous that Jason won’t come to the dance. When
Jason arrives she is pretty excited. When she comes up to him,
he is still pretty mad. When Jason wants to dance, Catherine
brings up her dance rule about, no dancing unless she’s alone.
Then Jason says on his communication book, “RULE. STUPID.
EXCUSE. WE. DANCE.” Finally Catherine agrees and they dance
through the night happily.
Catherine: The main character who is a 12 year old girl.
Jason: Catherine’s friend who has a disease
Kristi: Catherine’s new next-door neighbor
Ryan: The local bully who hooks up with Kristi later in the book
David: Catherine’s autistic brother who messes everything up
Mom: Catherine’s mom who is always busy
Dad: Catherine’s dad who is always late
Mrs. Morehouse: Jason’s mom who is very nice
“ My favorite part of the book is when Catherine decides to get
Jason a present. She gets him a really cool old beat up guitar for
him. When he gets it he is really happy because he loves guitar
music.”
“My favorite part is when Ryan teases David by giving him a gum
that’s only a wrapper, then David gets really sad. My other
favorite part is when Catherine and Jason go to the dance
together and dance by themselves.
“My favorite part was when Catherine and Kristi go swimming
together because it reminds me of when me and my friends go
swimming. My other favorite part was when Catherine pushes
Jason around in his wheelchair because it seems like he is
having so much fun.”
We recommend this book to anyone who likes happy endings
and some humor. We recommend this book because it is a very
happy story because in the end Catherine doesn’t care whether
Jason has a disability or not.