Realistic Fiction: Rules by Cynthia Lord:

    This story is about a young girl who is trying lead a normal life but she has difficulty doing this because her brother is autistic and needs a lot of attention.  She loves her brother and most of the time does not mind watching him but while trying to lead a normal pre-teenage life she begins to feel pushed to the side by her family.  She creates a list of rules for her brother to follow.  He needs these rules because, since he has autism he has a hard time remembering what is normal behavior while among other people.  She tries to be a supportive as possible for her brother and her family so she goes to occupational therapy with her brother every Tuesday and Thursday.  While sitting in the waiting room she makes an unexpected friend in a young boy named Jason who cannot speak but uses a book with picture words in it as his form of talking.  Being someone who loves to draw she began drawing him words that she thought were necessary including “That stinks a big one” and “Bummer.”  These words were ones that most kids would want to use, but because Jason cannot talk, he cannot have the attitude that a normal preteen would have when they get upset.  Being friends with Jason she is afraid that her other friends would judge her or think less of her because he is different from them.  She tries to balance her friendship with Jason and start a new friendship with the girl who just moved in next door. This proves to be difficult for her especially while trying to take care of her younger brother at the same time.

    I think this book is a great choice for the classroom because it shows what happens when you let what other people think affect the way you act and think yourself.  As an activity for the classroom I would have the students make their own list of rules.  This list would include rules that the students thought to be normal everyday behavior.  The list of rules could be rules that they have been given at home by their parents or safety rules, or rules that they know they should follow at school.  After the students have all finished their lists I would have them all present a couple of the items to the class and tell why they think that individual rule is important.