When Kristi comes along, though, he starts to be nice to her, but truly, he is a very rude person. He can convince Catherine to dance at the very end of the book. He plays the piano, and after Catherine buys him a guitar, he starts to play the guitar. Later, however, he decides to get a wheelchair that has a joystick. His mother has to push him around in his wheelchair. To communicate, he points to cards inside of his speech book. Her parents are divorced, and she wants them to get back together. She is friends with Ryan, and she is very 'cool.' Kristi doesn't like to go swimming in the pond, especially because it has mud on the bottom. However, when introduced to Jason, she becomes very rude.

She is very nice at first, and she volunteers at the community center. Kristi is Catherine's new next door neighbor. When something doesn't go as planned, he gets very angry, and he only likes the answers 'yes' and 'no.' If you say 'maybe' or 'I don't know,' he will start screaming. When he does puzzles, he has to do them from left to right. His favorite thing to do is go to the video store. He hates getting wet, and he is constantly teased by Ryan. He has to go to OT every week, and he enjoys dropping toys in the fish tank. He has autism, likes everything to go as planned, and hears everything louder than it actually is. Davidĭavid is Catherine's 8-year-old brother. In her free time, she makes word cards for Jason, and she makes lists of rules for David. She loves to swim in the lake close to her house. Most of Catherine's life is her trying to help her brother David.

In the end, she learns that Jason is her true friend.

Catherine, who is so desperate to be Kristi's best friend, hides the fact that Jason is handicapped to Kristi. Because Jason is handicapped, she is afraid that Kristi, her new next door neighbor, will judge her. When she goes to her brother's occupational therapy, or OT, she meets another new friend, Jason. When a new next door neighbor, and a potential new best friend, moves in, she is very excited and cannot wait to meet them. Written by big chungus and other people who wish to remain anonymousĬatherine, a 12-year-old girl and the protagonist of the story, is a David's sister. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

Rules by cynthia lord summary