The Usual Rules: A Novel
Feb 2004 · Macmillan + ORM
4.2star
16 reviews
Ebook
400
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
About this ebook
A teenage girl learns to cope with sudden tragedy in the wake of 9/11 “in this moving story of love and loss [that] will make you laugh and cry” (Judy Blume).
It’s a Tuesday morning in Brooklyn—a perfect September day. Thirteen-year-old Wendy is heading to school, eager to make plans with her best friend, worried about how she looks, mad at her mother for not letting her visit her father in California, impatient with her little brother and with the almost too-loving concern of her stepfather. She’s out the door to catch the bus. An hour later comes the news: A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center—her mother’s office building.
Through Wendy’s eyes, readers follow her slow and terrible realization that her mother has died, and the family’s struggle to move forward with their lives. Wendy’s journey takes her to California, where she forges friendships with her father’s cactus-growing girlfriend, a teenage mom, and a sad bookstore owner with an autistic son. Along the way, she begins to understand the deep love and connection she has with her brother. The Usual Rules is an unexpectedly hopeful story of healing and forgiveness that offers readers a picture of how—out of the rubble—a family rebuilds its life.
It’s a Tuesday morning in Brooklyn—a perfect September day. Thirteen-year-old Wendy is heading to school, eager to make plans with her best friend, worried about how she looks, mad at her mother for not letting her visit her father in California, impatient with her little brother and with the almost too-loving concern of her stepfather. She’s out the door to catch the bus. An hour later comes the news: A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center—her mother’s office building.
Through Wendy’s eyes, readers follow her slow and terrible realization that her mother has died, and the family’s struggle to move forward with their lives. Wendy’s journey takes her to California, where she forges friendships with her father’s cactus-growing girlfriend, a teenage mom, and a sad bookstore owner with an autistic son. Along the way, she begins to understand the deep love and connection she has with her brother. The Usual Rules is an unexpectedly hopeful story of healing and forgiveness that offers readers a picture of how—out of the rubble—a family rebuilds its life.
Ratings and reviews
4.2
16 reviews
lain kolb
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April 29, 2019
Amazing story of survival & growth loved it don't miss this book Read this story !!!!!!
1 person found this review helpful
Susan Patterson
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June 28, 2016
Beautifully told story about the triumph of the human spirit in the wake of tragedy.
About the author
Joyce Maynard has been a journalist and fiction writer for many years. Her books include the novel To Die For and the memoir At Home in the World. She currently divides her time between Northern California and Guatemala.
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