Rules by Cynthia Lord: Catherine’s little brother David has autism, and because of it she feels increasingly invisible to the rest of the world. She’s just that girl with the weird brother. When her new next-door neighbors turn out to have a girl just her age, she’s overjoyed to have a normal person to hang out with. Then she befriends Jason, a mute boy in a wheelchair, who causes her to rethink her definition of normal. I admit, I was worried this story would end with someone dying, since that’s how so many authors “resolve” any relationship with a differently-abled person (I’m not trying to be snarky here; I just don’t know what the correct term is anymore). Luckily, I was granted a happy ending to this tale that is both very sweet and unflinchingly realistic. (And funny. Can’t forget funny.) I don’t know if I’ll necessarily look up any of Lord’s other books, but this one was a nice change of pace. It’s so refreshing to find a Book With a Message that’s actually fun to read and not preachy.

Also posted on BookCrossing.