Customer Reviews

Rules of Survival (Penguin)

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As Matt explains, it was a sweltering Boston evening, and a date night for their mother. Matt was thirteen at that point, and Callie was eleven on that evening they left their five year old sister Emmy sleeping alone in the apartment, climbed out the window, and raced around the corner to buy a couple of Popsicles at the convenience store. They would return home a few minutes later with the dream that a stranger whose behavior they'd just witnessed might somehow be persuaded to intercede in the frightening and dangerous world they inhabited, a world controlled by Nikki, their nightmare of a mother.

"Callie and I headed straight for the ice cream freezer, and we'd just reached it when the yelling began. We whipped around.
"It was the barrel-shaped man and the little kid. The man had grabbed the boy by the upper arms and yanked him into the air. He was screaming into his face while the kid's legs dangled: 'What did you just do?'
"The little kid was clutching a package of Reese's Pieces and he started keening, his voice a long, terrified wail, his small body rigid.
"The big man--his father?--shook him hard, and kept doing it.
" 'I'll teach you to take things without permission! Spend my money without asking!'
"And then the other man, the one I later knew was called Murdoch, was between the father and son. Murdoch snatched the little kid away from his father and put the kid down behind him. Then Murdoch swiveled back.
"Emmy, I like to freeze the memory in my mind and just look at Murdoch. He was a medium kind of man. Medium height, medium build, hair shaved close to the skull. You wouldn't look twice--until you have looked twice.
"He wasn't afraid. I noticed that right away about him. Here was this huge enraged man, facing him. But this other man, Murdoch, was calm. At the same time, there was this sort of tension coiling off him.
"Callie and I were behind Murdoch and to the left, so we had only a partial view of his face and expression. But we had a full-on view of the little kid, who was so shocked that he stopped crying and just stared up at Murdoch's back with his mouth open.
"Meanwhile, Murdoch said, quietly but audibly, 'If you want to hurt somebody, you can hurt me. Go on. Hit me. I won't hit back. You can do it until you're not angry anymore. I'll let you.'
"There was an endless, oh, five seconds. The father's eyes bulged. His fists were clenched. He drew one arm back. But Murdoch was still looking straight at him, and I knew--you could feel it vibrating in the air--that even though Murdoch had said he wouldn't hit him, he wanted to. He wanted to hurt him.
"I liked him for that. No, Emmy, I loved him for that. Immediately."

Imagine being a child in a single-parent household with a mother who puts a knife to your throat for sneaking an Oreo without asking. A mother who suddenly pulls into the oncoming lane of traffic on the highway and demands you convincingly express your love and devotion to her (or else).

Sure, there are other adults around. Matt and Callie's distant and ineffectual father Ben also lives in Boston. But Ben is not Emmy's father, so even if they could convince him to do something, it wouldn't be of any help in their quest to protect their little sister from Nikki's insanity. Their Aunt Bobbie lives in the apartment below them, but she apparently ignores her big sister's horrific behavior toward the children. Matt and Callie are convinced that The System will, at the very most, provide temporary relief from the terror.

"Nikki was Nikki, unpredictable, temperamental, and vicious, with weird little moments of generosity and laughter mixed in. But she had always been that way. We could cope, and we would cope, because we always had."

But what happens when Murdoch's entrance into that world causes it to then become more and more and even more dangerous than it already was? There is no question that you'd better know THE RULES OF SURVIVAL.

After two days of reading in the bedroom, the dining room, the classroom, the parking lot, and the goat barn, I turned the final page and was finally able to get it unstuck from my hands.

Now that's what I call a gripping tale.

"Rules of Survival" by Nancy Werlin deserves all the high praise it has been getting from young and old alike. I loved it from the first page and couldn't put it down. How could I resist? This is such a compelling tale of psychological, emotional, and physical child abuse, and it is told so earnestly and believably from the eldest child's point of view. What makes this book is so devastatingly compelling is that the abuser is the children's mother.

I don't want to give away the plot, or spoil any part of this wonderful tale by telling you any critical details. It is enough to say that this book is well-written, thrilling, and fast-paced. The characters are extremely believable. There is no doubt that Nancy Werlin is a master storyteller.

But I do want to make one matter perfectly clear: yes, their mother is mentally ill, but please don't be mislead by other reviews to think that she is a bipolar (a modern term for manic-depressive illness) or psychotic. Perfectly normal-acting persons with bipolar illness surround all of us every day. This illness can be treated very successfully by medication. It would be wrong of you to think that Nikki's actions are those of person suffering from bipolar illness. And psychotic...well, if Nikki were psychotic she'd be a lot worse than what she is here in this novel, and true psychotics are a lot rarer. No, Nikki is one of those unfortunate persons with borderline personality disorder (BPD)...and they are more common. It is a term that sounds innocent enough, but it's as close to psychotic as you can get and still be seen by most folks as somewhat normal. It is an illness that cannot be cured by medication, and psychiatric talk-therapy has had little success with this biologically hard-wired condition.

Unfortunately, I know two people with borderline personality disorder: one I avoid completely because I can, and the other...well, that person I have to deal with fairly often. Neither is as bad as Nikki, but Nikki's problems are significantly exacerbated by lack of an unconditionally loving family to support her, alcohol abuse, major illegal drug abuse, and the stress of raising three small children entirely on her own.

If you love this book and want to know more about borderline personality disorder, check it out on the Internet. While you're at it, learn more about bipolar illness and psychosis, too.

This was my first Nancy Werlin book. I can hardly wait to read more. I love the fact that she deals with tantalizing topics at the fringe of the human condition...and she does it so well!

"You looked at Callie and me from over our mother's shoulder... I hoped you wouldn't try to wriggle out of the embrace, because in fact our mother seemed to be in a good mood. She was humming. Cocaine? New man? There
were a few possibilities, and I didn't care which one it was. Maybe we'd have an okay evening."

Those are the words of Matthew Walsh as he tells a story of survival to his youngest sister Emmy. Matthew has decided to write down the events as they happened so his sister can read them some day. She was so young at the time, he worries that she might not understand the details of their early life in the hands of an abusive mother.

Nancy Werlin writes a powerful novel, THE RULES OF SURVIVAL, about three children and their struggle to live normal lives surrounded by chaos and abuse. Their crazed mother Nikki, most likely bi-polar or manic-depressive, has created a topsy-turvy environment for her family. One day she's treating them to a gigantic pancake feast at IHOP, and the next she disappears without a trace for days.

Matthew, Callie, and Emmy soldier on alone until help arrives in the form of a sympathetic boyfriend. He enlists the help of Matthew and Callie's father and their mother's sister to rescue the kids from the chaos.

Werlin creates a realistic and terrifying picture of life through Matthew's eyes. Readers will remember the story well after the last page. This is a book worth reading for adults as well as teens.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

Edgar winner, Werlin, combines suspense with real life problems as Matt and his sisters Callie and Emmy try to keep their volatile and unbalanced mother happy. One day in the convenience store they witness Murdoch stopping a kid from being abused and become obsessed with him. For Matt's birthday, Callie finds Murdoch's address but their mother finds it and takes them all over to Murdoch's house. They begin dating and kids' lives look so much better but Murdoch quickly realizes that the mom is unbalanced and breaks up with her. Each day with their mom raises the question of survival. Will she drive the car with all the kids in it into oncoming traffic? The relationships between the siblings are richly depicted and Werlin's pacing is excruciatingly good. It is a page turner.

The Rules of Survival, a realistic-fiction book, is written by Nancy Werlin. Nancy Werlin's books have won many awards, including a National Book Award finalist citation and an Edgar award, for best young adult mystery books. Werlin always manages to combine realistic events with the suspense of a thriller in her writings, such as this book. In this book, Werlin uses realistic events to connect with the reader. Matt, the main character, has to take care of his two younger siblings, including a toddler. The book is written as a letter to Matt's youngest sibling, Emmy, who was too young to remember their horrific past with their mother. This book, that most teenagers can connect to, shows about being a teenager and the responsibilities that comes with having an abusive mother. They go through many bad experiences, including hunger and being homeless. I enjoyed reading this book, it helped me look at other's point of view on their life. It also helps me understand how lucky I am, and many others, to have loving parents. The plot, and the events that make up the plot make the reader keep the book and keeps the readers interest in the book. There are many themes in this book, such as Survival, Good and Evil, Self-determination, and the effect of fear on people. These themes fit this book because of the fear and determination that Matt comes in contact with. He always has the choice to give up, but he never does, no matter how scared he was. This book also shows a perfect example of good and evil. No matter how nice a person appears to be, they always have evil desires, and evil always has to pay. The genre fits this book perfectly. Another similar book in this genre, that relates to this book is, A Child Called "it", by Dave Pelzer. That book also deals with abuse in families and how the victims dealt with it. The writings of Werlin will always show people different points of view on life, and that is what makes her such a good writer.

The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin is the book that I read for my outside reading assignment in my reading class. When I picked it out I just picked it out practically by random off of a big list of books we could read. I thought I would hate it because I'm just the average teenager who doesn't like to read. Once I started the Rules of Survival, I didn't want to stop. I would stay up way later than normal because I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. This book is told by the oldest brother Matt. The book is written as letters to Emmy his younger sister about all the events and what Nikki does. He thinks Emmy won't understand why Nikki did all the things she did and that she won't remember all the horrible events in her childhood but most of all Matt writes the letter to help him understand all the events of his childhood. His letters take you through Matt, Callie, and Emmy's life of being the kids of their abusing mother. They take you through how they do everything possible to keep Emmy safe even when Nikki drives on the opposite side of the road threatening to kill all of them unless they tell her that they love her. They never know what to expect, Nikki could want to take them on an all day trip full of many fun things but mostly Nikki is mad and when she is mad things don't go well. Matt hopes maybe if he can get the three adults, Murdoch, Ben, and Aunt Bobbie on his side then maybe things can get better. If those adults have been their there whole lives and have never helped them what will make them help the kids now? Nancy Werlin writes and amazing story with a great ending and I would recommend anybody to read it.

Nancy Werlin's brilliant tale will leave you on the edge of you seat. But more than just a thriller, it's a close-up look at many kids in today's society. I see them in my therapy office all the time, needing to raise themselves because of ineffective or inadequate parenting. Nancy's pacing and ability to truly capture the teenage voice are nothing sort of remarkable. Well done, Nancy. You deserve all the praise you've been getting for this book!!!

The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin is a fabulous book about hardship, struggle, and love.

Growing up with Nikki as a mother, Matt never really had a normal life. Nikki had been abusive, both mentally and physically, for as long as he could remember. At a very young age, Matt was forced to care and look out for his two younger sisters, Callie and Emmy, and keep them out of his mother's wrath. The book is written as a letter from Matt to his youngest sister to remind her of everything her mother has done when she was younger. As the book goes on, we see Nikki's insanity slowly become more and more apparent. Throughout the novel we see Matt go from a scared boy to a brave and strong man able to stand up to his mother.

This book is extremely influential. It teaches the reader about self worth and mental strength. Matt often feels that there is no way he can go on. But remembering his sisters gets him through each day. He knows that him and his sisters deserve better and that allows him to fight through the hard times to reach a better future.

This book is a great read for anyone of any age. Although geared towards high school students, all can enjoy it. The themes are not specifically for one gender or age, therefore allowing many to genuinely appreciate this story.

The Rules of Survival was a wonderful book that kept you wanting more. Being a busy high school student, having to worry about grades, sports, and work, it is hard to keep focused on a book and truly enjoy it. However, this book had just enough emotion, action, and suspense to keep the reader wanting to turn to the next page and keep reading. I would recommend this to any person looking for a good, meaningful book.

Nancy Werlin, an award-winning author of teen books, weaves a tale of child abuse in this realistic fiction novel. The Rules of Survival is a thrilling book that captures the defeat and fear children feel when living under the roof of an abusive parent.

Matt, a fifteen-year old, is recording the horrible things his mother, Nikki, did to him and his two sisters, Emmy and Callie, when he was younger. As he writes, he relives his past through his story so his youngest sister may understand what went on while they lived with their mother. This is a story of the love Matt feels for his sisters and his desperate plight to get all three of them away from Nikki and to a better life.

Werlin's writing style is simple and easy to understand. She balances the horror the reader feels when reading what these poor children endured with the overall mood of the story so it is not depressing.

At times, the content is an emotional slap in the face. The antics of Matt's mother are shocking. Nikki hits her children, plays mind games, and endangers their lives. One day, she'll take her children out on a day of `family fun'. Another day, she drops them off at her boyfriend's house claiming she will only be gone for a few hours, and she is gone for days. Clearly, Nikki is not mentally stable, but Matt has no one to turn to for help out of his situation. The adults who are aware of Nikki's behavior are too scared to help him or don't seem to care. Nikki is smooth enough to convince the authorities that she never endangers her children.

Matt is stuck, but he accepts this fact and deals with life day by day.
When a man named Murdock shows up in Nikki's life, Matt finds a ray of hope. His determination to escape his mother is renewed.

Matt's personal journey began as he recorded his story for his youngest sister. He soon realizes the gift intended for his sister is really the beginning of his own healing.

Werlin's purpose in this novel is to inform the reader that the Matt's, Callie's, and Emmy's of this world are not a work of fiction but reality. This book does a good job of portraying the author's message. The message is its strength; its only weakness is the short, abrupt chapters.

Imagine one of your parents might viciously strike you across the face any time, without warning. This is the remarkable start-to-finish suspense Nancy Werlin builds and holds throughout The Rules of Survival. It's a patient suspense that builds on small moments of fear and terror, until the plot resolves in a solid, satisfying conclusion. The abuse Werlin describes feels very real, and I imagine the themes will be familiar to most child abuse victims. Her dialogue is natural and authentic for both the adult and child characters. All-in-all, this book is a thoughtful and compelling read I expect both adults and young adults will enjoy.

I listened to The Rules of Survival unabridged on Audio CD narrated by Daniel Passer. Passer gives a passionate performance, in exceptional voice, with broad expression and emotion. The performance is strong enough to seek out his other recordings.