This great Newberry Honor and Schneider Award winning book was recommended to me because I really enjoyed the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio, and I definitely will say that if you are a fan of that book, you will love Rules. Rules is a story about a twelve year old girl named Catherine who has a younger brother named David with serious autism and has to cope with his actions such as opening all the doors in other people’s houses to shouting out the film ratings in the video store. These experiences had her take to teaching him little “rules” like “Keep your pants on in public” and “No toys in the fish tank” to try to get him away from his embarrassing behavior. Catherine is exited but also worried because a girl her age will be moving into the neighborhood, but she is afraid that David might mess up her chance at a friendship if he acts the way he sometimes does. One day she is waiting with her mom for David to finish with his OT exercises at the clinic when she makes a new “almost friend” named Jason who is in a wheelchair and can’t speak by getting caught sketching him in the waiting room and then going. She eventually begins to make new word cards for the communication book he uses. The book goes on to describe all the experiences that she has with her brother, her family, and her new found friends in life. This book is very, very good and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who liked Wonder.

Reviewer Grade: 7

This book was so beautifully written. It was sparse and clean, but so powerful. It made me cry. I highly recommend this quick read.

This book made me cry. I read it in one sitting. It took me about 3 hours. I just kept turning the pages as fast as possible. It was beautifully written. I just felt for George and wanted to protect her from all her pain. I'm not transgendered and I don't know how it feels to be so, but I imagine that this is exactly right. Wonderful.

George is a well-written book about the confusion of a boy who knows that deep down that she is really a girl. Writing from George's point of view, the author expresses George's frustration as a transgender child who unfortunately experiences bullying from the other kids. Luckily, George does have a best friend who understands and supports her. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

This is an absolutely hilarious book told in the form of an online blog based on the MAD magazine feature of the same name. If you liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the Origami Yoda books, or like MAD, you will love this book. It tells a story in journal/ blog form about a 13 year old boy named Tad who is trying to survive middle school along with doing other things such as growing a mustache, doing a kickflip on his skateboard, and finally getting girls to notice him (which all end up in disasters.). He also makes funny observations on just about everything, from Hansel and Gretel to Peeps. It is laughing-so-hard-you-can't breathe type funny and I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the books above.

Reviewer Grade: 7