Rules (Lord)

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Rules:

1. Cynthia Lord has said that when she writes, she instinctively takes on the personae of a 10-12-year-old girl. Do you find her voice convincing?

2. Talk about the book's humor. What did you find funny? And is Lord's use of humor helpful or appropriate in dealing with a serious disability like autism?

3. Has the book given you deeper insight into someone with autism? Lord's hope in writing Rules was that readers would gain a greater understanding of someone with the disability.

4. Catherine feels ignored by her parents, who must devote extra time and attention to her brother. As Lord says: "fair can't always be equal." What does Lord mean by that? What does Catherine eventually learn about her father, in particular —and what does he come to learn about Catherine?

5. All writers, poets especially, have talked about the inadequacy of words—imagine how Jason feels having to depend on someone else's words to express his feelings. Talk about Jason's role vis-a-vis Catherine. How does their friendship change her?

6. Overall, in what way is Catherine changed by the end of the book? What does she come to learn about herself and others?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

top of page