The Rules of Survival
Encyclopedia
The Rules of Survival is a novel by Nancy Werlin
. It depicts the story of a boy and his two siblings trying to survive vicious emotional and physical abuse. This book was a National Book Award
finalist. It also received recognition as a 2007 Best Book for Young Adults from the American Library Association.
The real story starts with Matthew and his other younger sister, Callie. Callie is eleven, Matthew is thirteen, and Emmy is a toddler. Callie and Matthew go to the Cumberland Farms store to get popcicles, because there is a heat wave in the town in which they live. They see Murdoch for the first time, protecting a kid from being openly abused. Matthew and Callie like Murdoch, and both of them want to track him down so that they can be his friend.
Meanwhile, the first act of abuse that is shown in the book comes when Nikki throws Portuguese Seafood Paella at Matthew after Nikki finds the address of Murdoch that Callie found on the Internet. Nikki begins to date Murdoch, but eventually they break up. Nikki is enraged and tries to blame it on Murdoch. She wants to call the Social Services and report Murdoch for abuse. Murdoch gets a restraining order against Nikki for constantly following and stalking him. Nikki is angry and sends a man called Rob to brutalize Murdoch. Nikki and Rob eventually end up in jail.
After she gets out of jail, she recklessly drives in search of Murdoch. Instead, she finds pleasure in tormenting Julie, a friend of Murdoch. Julie loses the use of her legs, and Nikki ends up in jail again. Ben, Matthew's father (who is scared of Nikki), and Bobbie, Nikki's sister, use this opportunity to gain joint custody of Matthew, Callie, and Emmy. Matthew and Emmy live with Aunt Bobbie while Callie lives with Ben in Arlington, Massachusetts. Things are fine for a while until Nikki kidnaps Emmy and gets her drunk, although she is about eight years old. Matthew gets a call from Emmy and she tells him where she is. Matthew rescues Emmy, only to run into Nikki. Matt is about to kill Nikki when Murdoch appears. Murdoch advises her to run away and never come back.
But this is not the end of Nikki. Letters continue to come. Some of them are normal, but some contain threatening messages like "I will kill you" or "It was Murdoch's fault." The book ends with Murdoch telling Matt that he was also abused when he was younger. In the end, Matt never gives the letter to Emmy.
Callie: Matthews sister. Later on known for being very solemn and stuipd. Also the middle child, daughter of Nikki and Ben.
Emmy: The youngest sibling in the family. She was a baby when she was first introduced. Daughter of Nikki and an unknown father.
Nikki: The abusive mother of Matthew, Callie, and Emmy. She often tries to have "fun" with her children. She has a job at the hospital at the time and often gets fired. She is very emotional and at times psychotic. She says she loves her children, but in reality, she hates them.
Murdoch: A man the children met in the Cumberland Farms store. He is one of the people that learn about the children's mother early in the book. After he breaks up with Nikki, Nikki has a personal grudge for him and wants him to get hurt.
Aunt Bobbie: The sister of Nikki and aunt of the children. Gets joint custody of the children with Ben, the father of the children except Emmy. She is often the target of Nikki's rude remarks.
Ben: The former husband of Nikki and father of Callie and Matthew.
Nancy Werlin
Nancy Werlin is an American author of young adult novels. She received a B.A. in English from Yale College and was a National Book Award nominee for The Rules of Survival, a winner of the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel for The Killer's Cousin in 1999, and an Edgar award finalist for Locked...
. It depicts the story of a boy and his two siblings trying to survive vicious emotional and physical abuse. This book was a National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
finalist. It also received recognition as a 2007 Best Book for Young Adults from the American Library Association.
Plot summary
The book starts out with an introduction when Matthew Walsh is writing a letter to his younger sister Emmy to tell her the story of their mother's vicious abuse.The real story starts with Matthew and his other younger sister, Callie. Callie is eleven, Matthew is thirteen, and Emmy is a toddler. Callie and Matthew go to the Cumberland Farms store to get popcicles, because there is a heat wave in the town in which they live. They see Murdoch for the first time, protecting a kid from being openly abused. Matthew and Callie like Murdoch, and both of them want to track him down so that they can be his friend.
Meanwhile, the first act of abuse that is shown in the book comes when Nikki throws Portuguese Seafood Paella at Matthew after Nikki finds the address of Murdoch that Callie found on the Internet. Nikki begins to date Murdoch, but eventually they break up. Nikki is enraged and tries to blame it on Murdoch. She wants to call the Social Services and report Murdoch for abuse. Murdoch gets a restraining order against Nikki for constantly following and stalking him. Nikki is angry and sends a man called Rob to brutalize Murdoch. Nikki and Rob eventually end up in jail.
After she gets out of jail, she recklessly drives in search of Murdoch. Instead, she finds pleasure in tormenting Julie, a friend of Murdoch. Julie loses the use of her legs, and Nikki ends up in jail again. Ben, Matthew's father (who is scared of Nikki), and Bobbie, Nikki's sister, use this opportunity to gain joint custody of Matthew, Callie, and Emmy. Matthew and Emmy live with Aunt Bobbie while Callie lives with Ben in Arlington, Massachusetts. Things are fine for a while until Nikki kidnaps Emmy and gets her drunk, although she is about eight years old. Matthew gets a call from Emmy and she tells him where she is. Matthew rescues Emmy, only to run into Nikki. Matt is about to kill Nikki when Murdoch appears. Murdoch advises her to run away and never come back.
But this is not the end of Nikki. Letters continue to come. Some of them are normal, but some contain threatening messages like "I will kill you" or "It was Murdoch's fault." The book ends with Murdoch telling Matt that he was also abused when he was younger. In the end, Matt never gives the letter to Emmy.
Characters
Matthew: The main protagonist of the story. The 'narrator' of the story. Matt was the one writing the letter to Emmy. Child of Nikki and Ben. Brother of Callie and half-sister Emmy.Callie: Matthews sister. Later on known for being very solemn and stuipd. Also the middle child, daughter of Nikki and Ben.
Emmy: The youngest sibling in the family. She was a baby when she was first introduced. Daughter of Nikki and an unknown father.
Nikki: The abusive mother of Matthew, Callie, and Emmy. She often tries to have "fun" with her children. She has a job at the hospital at the time and often gets fired. She is very emotional and at times psychotic. She says she loves her children, but in reality, she hates them.
Murdoch: A man the children met in the Cumberland Farms store. He is one of the people that learn about the children's mother early in the book. After he breaks up with Nikki, Nikki has a personal grudge for him and wants him to get hurt.
Aunt Bobbie: The sister of Nikki and aunt of the children. Gets joint custody of the children with Ben, the father of the children except Emmy. She is often the target of Nikki's rude remarks.
Ben: The former husband of Nikki and father of Callie and Matthew.