Catherine is a twelve year old girl
who has an autistic brother. She is
struggling in finding her own place in life.
To try to help her brother understand better, Catherine has made some
rules for her brother. During the
summer, her best friend leaves to visit her dad in California. This summer she has a new neighbor moving in
next door that she hopes they can become really good friends. Catherine also meets Jason at the OT clinic,
a fifteen year old boy who is in a wheelchair and can only communicate through
cards. She forms relationships with both
of them. Kristi is a “cool”
girl and Catherine is scared she will lose her friendship because of her
brother. She develops a friendship with
Jason by making him cards with words or phrases. One time, she even show Jason how running
feels like by racing him around the parking lot while he is in his
wheelchair. Kristi decides to invite her
to a dance and tell her to bring her friend Jason. Catherine hasn’t
told her that Jason is in a wheelchair and can’t
speak. Meanwhile, Jason invites her on
the same day to a party. She decides to
go Jason’s party and uses it as an excuse not
to go with Kristi. During Jason’s
party, he hears about the dance and asks Catherine to go with him. She is hesitant because of his disability and
this makes him upset. Catherine apologizes
and takes him to the dance. There she
finds out who her real friend is and that’s
Jason. Jason and Catherine dance. The experience dealing with her brother and
Jason cause her to mature and find a balance in her life. She can’t
wait until her friend Melissa gets back to tell her about her summer. This is a realistic fiction book dealing
with a girl who needs to find herself because she lives with a brother with
autism and is trying to fit in. The
style this book was written was in chapters, each chapter it titled with a
phrase/rule dealing with relationships.
In today’s society, more children are feeling
and dealing with the same issues as Catherine.
As a teacher, you may discuss with students how every family has their
own issues to deal with. You may have
them write about a situation they may
have had to deal with and how they overcame it.
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