Rules by Cynthia Lord

Catherine is 12 years old and has a brother with autism. While she waits with her mother in the waiting room at his physical therapy session, she meets Jason, a boy her age who is in a wheelchair and can only communicate by pointing at cards with pictures or words. She begins making new words for him and develops a relationship with him. Then comes the school dance . . .

You can almost see the plot thicken in this book as the day of the school dance approaches. However, Lord does a good job of showing Catherine's frustration with and understanding of her brother at the same time. Having a brother with a disability gives her a better understanding of Jason, but also of what it is like living with someone with a disability.

I enjoyed this book; Catherine is a good character who grows just a bit during the book. I've noticed that many recent books have endings that don't tie everything up all nice and neat, but at least the endings are tied into reality; this is one of those books.