Title: Rules of SurvivalAuthor: Nancy Werlin
Publish Date: September 2006
Publisher: Penguin Group
Pages: 272pp
ISBN: 0803730012
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Range: 12 and up
Price: $16. 14
Amazon: $7.99
Annotation: Matthew is eighteen and has two younger sisters and an abusive mother. In one long letter to his sister Emmy, he recounts the events that took place while living with their manic mother.
Summary: Matthew, Callie and Emmy live with their unstable mother Nikki ( who is known for her flights of fancy and her sudden rages) in South Boston. The three of them have grow up tip-toeing around their apartment, always afraid of setting off their mother’s wrath. When Matt and Callie sneak out one night they meet a man named Murdock, who seems to take a stand on children being mistreated. Matt and Callie decide to formulate a plan to get Murdock involved into their lives in hopes he can help them. Their plan takes a wrong turn when their mother ends up dating Murdoch and when the relationship does not go well, Matt is frustrated and depressed as he had hopes of Murdoch being their savior. In the end, SPOILER ALERT, Murdoch comes back as he realizes that the kids are in danger. He forms an alliance with Matt’s father and Nikki’s sister and they end up taking the children away and gaining custody. Nikki makes one last effort to kidnap Emmy--this is when Matt finally understands that he has the power to ensure his own survival.
Evaluation: This is an intense and terrifying read told through the eyes of Matthew, the oldest sibling in an abusive household. The structure of the story is formulated into a letter—Matt writing to his younger sister Emmy about their childhood. I thought the predominate theme of abusive households and the affect they have mentally and physically on children to be valid and heartbreaking and I only hope this book serve teens who are living in dysfunction households. Another interesting point Nancy Werlin made in this book was how hard it actually is for someone on the outside to intervene.
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness:
- Child abuse.
- Surviving while living in a dysfunctional family.
- Adults are not always right in their actions, even parents.
Reason this book was chosen: The realistic storyline of family abuse and the ways in which this abuse affects children.
Similar Titles:
Author Website: Click HERE
Awards:
ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2007
ALA Best Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2010
ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 2007
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, 2006
