Rules by Cynthia Lord

This book is about a 12 year old girl named Catherine and her brother, David, who has autism. Catherine's life pretty much revolves around David. She has to babysit him a lot, and that isn't easy. She has to make rules for him, like "No toys in the fish tank" and "Sometimes people walk away from you because they can't hear you, sometimes they walk away because they don't want to talk to you." David tries to follow these rules, but sometimes forgets. Every Tuesday and Thursday Catherine and her mom have to take David to therapy, where Catherine meets a boy named Jason who can't talk and has to be in a wheelchair, and talks through his communication book, and they become friends. Summer just started and a new neighbor moves in next to Catherine. There is a girl who is the same age as her named Kristi, and Catherine tries to become friends with her. I can't say very much without giving the book away, but it was a pretty interesting book. This was a really quick read, and it was also really easy. It was realistic fiction, and dealing with real life problems, even if they don't happen to everyone. I enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to anyone. It has no mature topics of language.