The Alison Rules [Hardcover]

Catherine Clark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 10, 2004

What is It About Alison?

For one thing, she has rules:

• When stealing a rowboat, ALWAYS check that the oars are the same length, so you don't go in circles.
  
  
• In reference to your best friend's crush, KEEP your feelings to yourself.
  
  
• NEVER use your locker if that's where you were standing when told the very worst news of all.

But rules -- like hearts -- are meant to be broken.

From Catherine Clark, author of Frozen Rodeo, comes a profound story of friendship, love, and loss.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

High school sophomore Alison is withdrawing: She broke up with her senior football quarterback boyfriend, avoids hanging out with her dad and younger brother, and has removed most of the photographs from her bedroom bulletin board. Her life revolves around her mouthy best friend Laurie and the news stories she writes for the school paper. When Patrick transfers into school, they become an offbeat group (Laurie tells Alison she likes him, and while Alison develops a crush on him, too, she thinks, "I couldn't let down my defenses"). Alison's first-person narrative plants clues along the way that something tragic happened to her mother, but the fight scene between Alison and Laurie that finally divulges the details feels scripted. Readers may also have a hard time believing in the book's final tragic turn. The real strength here lies in Clark's (Truth or Dairy) ability to create a very real world through vivid details: Alison's dad takes the kids to Salvage City warehouse, where's he's obsessed with products like Mister Fizzee "which almost never lived up to its name" and the local kids hang out drinking beer at the river's boat launch. The author also realistically presents grief as a slow and difficult process, and readers will admire Alison's ultimate realization that "rules hadn't saved me from anything." Ages 14-up.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up–High school sophomore Alison makes plenty of "rules" for herself–don't get involved, especially with cute new classmate Patrick; don't go to Boston ever again; don't laugh too loudly or have too much fun. Her friend Laurie tries to bring her out of her shell, but to no avail. Most readers will quickly guess that something terrible has happened to Alison's mother, though they don't find out that she died from breast cancer until the last third of the book. Although it has a few funny moments, this novel is much more serious than the author's Truth or Dairy (2000) and Frozen Rodeo (2003, both HarperCollins). It is a moving story, especially when Alison's repressed emotions do explode, but some readers may find the buildup to that release excessively long. A love triangle involving Alison, Laurie, and Patrick adds interest, however, and a tragedy that occurs in the last few chapters is shocking, unexpected, and heartbreaking. Teens looking for books about daughters grieving their mothers might prefer Karin Cook's What Girls Learn (Pantheon, 1997) or Joan Abelove's Saying It Out Loud (Puffin, 2001), but this is also a solid choice.–Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: HarperTempest; 1 edition (August 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060559802
• ISBN-13: 978-0060559809
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,884,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing - Catherine Clarks best book yet, December 18, 2004

By 

Willow (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Alison Rules (Hardcover)

I love all of Catherine Clarks other books (Truth or Dairy, Wurst Case Scenario, and so on), but at first I didn't really like this book. THE ALISON RULES is a more serious book, and because of that it starts off a little slowly. But after a while, it begins to pick up, and I couldn't put the book down.

THE ALISON RULES is about high school sophomore Alison and her best friend Laurie. Not long ago, Alison's mother died, and she's having a heck of a time coping. Laurie's the funny, outgoing, playful one - and she tries to get Alison to cope, but she's not overly pushy. Alison is more introverted and quiet, and she thinks that just avoiding everything that reminds her of her mom will make her pain go away.

Halfway through the school year Patrick Kirk (or Patrick Kirkpatrick, as Laurie calls him) transferrs into their geometry class. The two girls befriend him, and also start to fall for him.

On a class trip to Boston, Laurie tells Patrick how Alison's mom died (this is how the reader finds out, as well) and then the two girls are in a huge arguement. But a little while later, something happens that will - oddly enough - help Alison learn how to cope with losing her mom.

THE ALISON RULES is an amazing book - its more serious than Ms. Clark's other books, but its also more touching and heartfelt. I couldn't put it down after a while. Warning: you might want to keep a box of Kleenex handy - I was crying like a baby during this book.

Overall grade - A+

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Acurate teenage story-with a surprise, October 26, 2005

By 

Laura Ingalls Wilder "half pint" (Burlington, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Alison Rules (Hardcover)

The book Alison Rules is a great book for anyone who remembers being a teenager, or still is for that matter, as well as anyone who has had to deal with the loss of a loved one. The book is from the point of view of Alison, a sophmore in high school. She had lost her mother in the previous summer, and we get a feel of how it feels like to cope with such a terrible loss, and how much harder it really is than it appears to those who have never had that happen yet, or to those of you who have recently lost someone, this book gives a great explanation of view of significant teenage girl dealing with losing someone close.
The author does a great job of thinking like a young teenage girl. I being one myself, understood where Alison was coming from through out the book, and all of it was really accurate, anywhere from not understanding math, to best friend disputes, to getting around to spending quality family time, along with other typical and not so typical events and scenarios through out the book.
To those who do read this book, the beginning and well through the middle of the book, its pretty slow, but don't give up on the book!! It has a shocking ending, that really comes out of no where, and it really hits you hard. I recommend that you read the entire book. You need to read through to the end to really understand the whole meaning of the book. Its as if the last part of the book ties the entire story of the Alison Rules all together, and you realize just how much of it you didn't really understand at the beginning.
i hope you enjoy the book!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars go buy it!, October 15, 2005

By 

R. Gwaltney - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Alison Rules (Paperback)

The Alison Rules is one of the best books i've ever read. It made me laugh and cry. It also teaches you life lessons. Alison already lost her mom and decides to cope with that by never thinking about her and never having a fun time. When she finally meets a guy named Patrick. But her best friend likes him also. At the end its very sad but gives you a good lesson in life of how you should deal with things. I would recomend it to anyone looking for a good book to read.