Usual Rules Book

Joyce Maynard is the type of lady I'd love to live next door to. I love her stories. I could grab some kitchen tips, life tips and talk books! I'd love that. This is the second novel of hers that I have come across. The first one being Labor Day. From this you can just tell she's a baker, always mentioning passionate food stories in both. I chose this one as I wrote to her here on GR, and she suggested this title. Just happened to have this on my shelf, thanks to my love of second hand book shopping.

This quietly and slowly stole its way onto my favourite list as I read along. It was a slow burn, I always wanted to read it but not full of tension like the usual thrillers I read. It was kind of sneaky, but I knew it was going to get better and better. I only noticed about 80 pages or so in that there were no quotation marks, this seemed less formal and a bit hippy-ish, which actually is just about how I imagine Joyce to be?!

As in Labor Day, at the end of the book she gives us a huge insight into the motivation behind writing the book, where she did this and how her own children's relationships in part formed parts of the motivation. One of the reasons she writes a book like this she explains for a young girl with dreams of being a writer who lives life herself in an very uncertain part of the world. Tid-bits of real life stuff like this always adds an extra rich layer. This book is about loss and re-birth following 911. It was believable, appealing and special.

The author tackles this theme through the surprisingly wise eyes of a 13-year-old girl Wendy, and the way this was laid out to us was extraordinary. Not only is she dealing with indescribable grief, but she's 13, and we see the gamut of emotions that go along with this. Not being able to say goodbye and tragic last moments of teenage angst being thrust upon her most beloved Mum. How does she cope without saying goodbye? Where is her place in the world now, having not lived with her birth father for more than a decade? What of her gracious step-father and gorgeous young brother she'd do anything for?

I'd love all my reading friends to read this sometime, this author just tells a story so honestly and in a really lovely way. Other funny throw away lines included Jennifer Lopez marrying again, Drew Barrymore divorcing (and has again since the book was printed, love my pop culture references!), and the owner of a small indi bookstore mentioning if Borders doesn't kill him maybe he's got a hope. Has anyone been to a bookstore called Davis in California? This book has ramped up my obsession with New York, I'll go there one day.

She had a saying: Treats make trouble. It was amazing how often that applied.

On her memories of her mum: Floodwaters now. More pictures coming at her than she had time to collect even, they rushed by so quickly. Catch it, catch it. Don't let that one get away.

The word had an unfriendly, tight fisted sound to it, like a person who's splitting the cost of a candy bar right down to the penny.

..or maybe not even spikes of green yet, just the barest blush of colour - something had begun to grow back in her.

And that of her lovely red clarinet: That could be true. But think of all the other colors.

I'm not being ultra articulate here, nor did I mean to make this so long. Along with lovable characters (I have to say every single one) the ensemble cast I loved as well. Carolyn, Alan, Tim, Violet. Read it and see for yourself!

If I could give this one more than five stars, I definitely would... Review to come...

Setting: New York City, September 2001
Opening line: "It was a story Wendy knew well, how she got her name."

At times in my reading life of 45+ years, I have encountered books that are so beautifully written, so meaningful, that reviewing is difficult. "The Usual Rules" was one of those for me; I didn't feel that my words would do it justice. However, in the hope that others will perhaps be moved to read this, I'll do my best.

Wendy is a 13 year-old-girl growing up with her family of mom, stepfather, and younger sibling Louie in New York City. Her biological father having left when she was four, the relationship between Wendy and her mother has been one of warmth and closeness. The stepdad Josh is the only father Wendy really remembers, and she and her half- brother adore each other. Until recently... Now, on the cusp of beginning eighth grade, Wendy has begun to feel unexpected annoyance with all of them at times. Especially her mother, who can't seem to understand why Wendy has become curious about her biological father, and desires contact with him.
Now, on a beautiful Tuesday morning in September, Wendy is waiting with her classmates to be picked up by parents, because two planes have flown into the World Trade Center towers and Manhattan is in chaos. From the moment Josh and Louie appear at the classroom, all their lives are forever altered...
I would recommend this to teachers and parents of young adults who don't remember that day, so they may come to understand its significance and heartbreak.

Memorable Quotes:
(Pg.231)-"In the old days, Wendy had believed that there was a set of rules your life followed, the main ones being that certain things, like your family and the world you inhabited, were never going to change. Her parents had stood as fixed on the landscape as the lions on either side of the steps to the New York Public Library, or-she might have actually thought about it this way once-the Twin Towers at the base of Manhattan."