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Overview
It's a Tuesday morning in Brooklyn—-a perfect September day. 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 jazz musician 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 the eyes of thirteen-year-old Wendy, we gain entrance to the world rarely shown by those who documented the events of that one terrible day: a family's slow and terrible realization that Wendy's mother has died, and their struggle to go on with their lives in the face of such a crushing loss.
Absent for years, Wendy's real father shows up without warning. He takes her back with him to California, where she re-invents her life: Wendy now lives more or less on her own in a one-room apartment with a TV set and not much else. Wendy's new circle now includes her father's cactus-grower girlfriend, newly reconnected with the son she gave up for adoption twenty years before; a sad and tender bookstore owner who introduces her to the voice of Anne Frank and to his autistic son; and a homeless skateboarder, on a mission to find his long-lost brother.
Over the winter and spring that follow, Wendy moves between the alternately painful and reassuring memories of her mother and the revelations that come with growing to know her real father for the first time. Pulled between her old life in Brooklyn and a new one 3,000 miles away, our heroine is faced with a world where the usual rules no longer apply but eventually discovers a strength and capacity for compassion and survival that she never knew she possessed.
At the core of the story is Wendy's deep connection with her little brother, back in New York, who is grieving the loss of their mother without her. This is a story about the ties of siblings, about children who lose their parents, parents who lose their children, and the unexpected ways they sometimes find one another again. Set against the backdrop of global and personal tragedy, and written in a style alternately wry and heartbreaking, The Usual Rules is an unexpectedly hopeful story of healing and forgiveness that will offer readers, young and old alike, a picture of how, out of the rubble, a family rebuilds its life.
Synopsis
It's a Tuesday morning in Brooklyn—a perfect September day. 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 jazz musician 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 building
Through the eyes of thirteen-year-old Wendy, we gain entrance to the world rarely shown by those who documented the events of that one terrible day: a family's slow and terrible realization that Wendy's mother has died, and their struggle to go on with their lives in the face of crushing loss.
Absent for years, Wendy's real father shows up without warning. He takes her back with him to California, where she re-invents a life that comes to include a teenage mother, living on her own in a one-room apartment with a TV set and not much else; her father's cactus-grower girlfriend, newly reconnected with the son she gave up for adoption twenty years before; a sad and tender bookstore owner who introduces her to the voice of Anne Frank and to his autistic son; and a homeless skateboarder, on a mission to find his long-lost brother.
Over the winter and spring that follow, Wendy moves between the alternately painful and reassuring memories of her mother and the revelations that come with growing to know her real father for the first time. Pulled between her old life in Brooklyn and a new one three thousands miles away, Wendy is faced with a world where the usual rules no longer apply but eventually discovers a strength and capacity for compassion and survival that she never knew she possessed.
At the core of the story is Wendy's deep connection with her little brother, back in New York, who is grieving the loss of their mother without her. This a story about the ties of siblings, about children who lose their parents, parents who lose their children, and the unexpected ways they sometimes find one another again. Set against the backdrop of global and personal tragedy, and written in a style alternately wry and heartbreaking, The Usual Rules is an unexpectedly hopeful story of healing and forgiveness that will offer readers, young and old alike, a picture of how, out of the rubble, a family rebuilds its life.
The New Yorker
It is a sign of Maynard's somewhat gauche good-heartedness that she has already produced this novel about September 11th. The protagonist, Wendy, is a thirteen-year-old girl who has just begun to rebel against her mother. The mother goes to work in the World Trade Center, and doesn't come home; Wendy is left with a load of inchoate guilt and misery, a devoted stepfather, an adored half brother, and a father in California, who, after years of neglect, is suddenly interested in her. Wendy flees to her father and spreads love the way Johnny Appleseed planted trees. The idea is that this heals her. Minor characters -- a San Francisco waif in search of his brother, a teen-age mother, a bookshop owner with an autistic son -- endure less heartwarming outcomes, but Maynard's overriding impulse is palliative.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Joyce Maynard has created unforgettable characters in this moving story of love and loss. It will make you laugh and cry. Be prepared — once you pick up this book you won't be able to put it down."—Judy BlumeThe New Yorker
It is a sign of Maynard's somewhat gauche good-heartedness that she has already produced this novel about September 11th. The protagonist, Wendy, is a thirteen-year-old girl who has just begun to rebel against her mother. The mother goes to work in the World Trade Center, and doesn't come home; Wendy is left with a load of inchoate guilt and misery, a devoted stepfather, an adored half brother, and a father in California, who, after years of neglect, is suddenly interested in her. Wendy flees to her father and spreads love the way Johnny Appleseed planted trees. The idea is that this heals her. Minor characters -- a San Francisco waif in search of his brother, a teen-age mother, a bookshop owner with an autistic son -- endure less heartwarming outcomes, but Maynard's overriding impulse is palliative.Publishers Weekly
While the first 50-odd pages of Maynard's (To Die For; At Home in the World)new novel are emotionally harrowing, perseverance is rewarded. Set both in Brooklyn and the small town of Davis, Calif., following the events of September 11, the book tells the coming-of-age story of a girl whose mother goes to work one morning and doesn't come back. Wendy, who must bear the burden of having the last conversation with her mother end in anger, must also help care for her four-year old half-brother, Louie, while her stepfather, Josh, struggles to deal with his own grief. Attempting to escape her depressing surroundings and numb state of mind, Wendy leaves her family and best friend to live in California with her estranged father, Garrett. There she meets a colorful cast of characters, including Garrett's cactus-loving girlfriend, Carolyn. She also encounters bookstore owner Alan, who affectionately cares for his autistic son; a young single mother struggling to parent her newborn; and a homeless skateboarding teenager in search of his long-lost brother. The lack of quotation marks to set off dialogue makes the text difficult to read at times, and Louie seems a little too adult, even for a precocious child, but the intense subject matter and well-crafted flashbacks make for a worthy read. Though some may be tempted to charge Maynard with exploiting a national tragedy, most readers will find the novel an honest and touching story of personal loss, explored with sensitivity and tact. Maynard brings national tragedy to a personal level, and while the loss and heartache of her characters are certainly fictional, the emotions her story provokes are very real. (Feb. 22) Forecast: Presented by St. Martin's as "the first work of fiction to come directly out of the September 11 experience" (which it is not; Lawrence Block's Small Town, for one, reviewed in Forecasts, Jan. 20, stems directly from those events), this novel should appeal to a wide spectrum of readers, including those who have avidly followed the long career of the sometimes controversial author. Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.VOYA
Wendy is in her eighth-grade homeroom in Brooklyn when the principal announces that planes have flown into the World Trade Center towers. Her mother, Janet, works on the eighty-ninth floor. Finally her stepfather, Josh, comes to get Wendy with her young stepbrother in tow. They run home waiting for Janet to call, but she never comes home. This novel follows Wendy through the ensuing days and weeks, interspersing her memories of the past. Wendy's father arrives unannounced on Halloween to take her home to California. There she learns that the usual rules often fail to apply, as she skips out on school, lies to her father, and makes up stories about her life. Her new friends also live outside the usual: Violet mistreats her baby after being rejected by her own mother, Alan visits his adult son who became autistic at the age of four, and Todd is a young runaway searching for his brother. The first third of the novel, centered in New York on and after September 11, is gripping, but the remainder less so. All characters come alive, especially Wendy and her mother, but unfortunately, many of the connections made throughout the narrative are too neat, and Wendy's recovery after the tragedy is improbably quick. By New Year, she comes clean about her lies and finds a full new life. Nevertheless, teen readers will identify with Wendy's incredulity that ordinary life continues under such circumstances and will care deeply as she travels through the stages of grieving. VOYA Codes: 4Q 3P J S A/YA (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2003, St. Martin's Press,290p,— Angela Carstensen
Children's Literature
Wendy is an eighth grader with eighth grade worries. Her mother is an ex-dancer settled down to domestic life with her new husband, jazz musician Josh, and their four-year-old son, Louie. Wendy loves her family but longs to know her real father, Garrett, who breezes into her life every few years and just as quickly whisks himself away. Then it all comes crumbling down. Wendy's mom worked on the 87th floor of the World Trade Center, the first one hit on September 11, 2001. She did not return home that day. Dazed and shocked, her family swims through a changed world, a landscape that prompts Wendy's little brother to ask, "Does God know about this?" Wendy—and thousands like her— somehow plug through days where the usual rules of grief do not apply. Out of the blue, Wendy's father shows up with a plan to take her to California. Though wracked with guilt for leaving Josh and Louie behind, Wendy takes him up on his offer. What could have turned out to be the often-told story of a child caught in a tug-of-war between parents becomes instead the story of a girl's journey through unimaginable grief. Wendy's California acquaintances are different from her New York circle, but not worse than they are. Therein lays the genius of this work. Though there are many characters with various flaws, all are sympathetic and real. September 11 provides enough evil to fill volumes. Packed with devastatingly beautiful images and exquisite dialogue, this is as close to a perfect novel as you're libel to come across. When it comes to recommending a good book, the usual rules don't apply. This is a must read. 2003, St. Martin's Press,— Christopher Moning
KLIATT
Maynard writes about being 13 as if she were hiding inside the mind of a 13-year-old, seeing the world through 13-year-old eyes. She does it in such a way that 13-year-olds, 83-year-olds, and everyone in between can relate to the story. Although the story is about an unusual and horrific circumstance—that of a young girl, Wendy, whose mother dies in the attack on the World Trade Center Towers—it is also the story of any 13-year-old figuring out where she fits in the world. During the course of the story, she discovers the meaning of family and learns that there is more than one way to be related to another person. Wendy is a wonderful character and the reader will be reminded of other girl characters who play a role in the story: Anne Frank, Frankie of A Member of the Wedding and Francie of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Like them, Wendy has wisdom beyond her years and, like her mother, she has a zest for life that lasts after the book is finished. KLIATT Codes: JSA—Recommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2003, St. Martin's Griffin, 386p., Ages 12 to adult.—Nola Theiss