*Please note: This post contains affiliate links.
Have you ever wished your life could be normal?
Maybe you’re in a season of transition, and you want things to settle down. Maybe you’ve experienced a big loss or tragedy, and you want things to go back to the way they used to be.
Or, as is the case in Rules (Amazon Affiliate Link) by Cynthia Lord, maybe you have a family member who has changed the course of your life forever.
Rules is the story of twelve-year-old Catherine, and more than anything, she wishes for a normal life.
But her little brother David has autism, and her entire life seems to center around his needs.
Catherine does her best to be a good big sister, to teach David the “rules” of normal life. But then one summer, Catherine makes some new friendships that have her wondering if she’s been wishing for the wrong things all along.
If you are looking for a middle grade novel with humor and heart, Rules is a wonderful and worthwhile read.
It’s a friendship story and a sibling story and a personal identity story, all wrapped up into one.
And it begs a question of us as the readers: What does it mean to have a normal life? Should normal be our goal, or should we be wishing for something else?
One thing that makes my life not-so-normal is the fact that I was born missing half of my right arm.
And yes, there have been times when I’ve thought it would be much easier if I had two limbs like most people around me.
But having only one hand has also been a gift. It’s enabled me to have conversations with people that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. It’s helped build my character and made me into the person I am today. It led me to write my debut novel, Road Trip Rescue.
I wouldn’t be the same if I had “normal” arms.
What about you? What “normal” are you striving for? And what would it look like if you worked for something else instead?
The link below is an affiliate link for Amazon, which helps support me in creating more posts like this one!
And never forget . . . you are wonderfully created.
Love,
Becca
