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The Rules of Survival
Cover of The Rules of Survival
The Rules of Survival
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Dear Emmy,
I have decided to write it all down for you, even though I do have my doubts. I wonder if you really need to know exactly what happened to us–me, you, Callie–at the hands of our unpredictable, vicious mother. How we lived back then, when I was fifteen and you only seven, all of us full of fear. And then full of hope when we met Murdoch, the man who seemed to be showing us an easier future. What Murdoch did and what he couldn’t do. What you and I did. Part of me hopes that you’ll go along happily your whole life and never want to know the details.
But I need to make sense of it. I need to try to turn the experience into something valuable for you, and for myself–not just something to be pushed away and forgotten. Emmy, the events we lived through taught me to be sure of nothing about other people. They taught me to expect danger around every corner. They taught me to understand that there are people in this world who mean you harm.
Matthew
Dear Emmy,
I have decided to write it all down for you, even though I do have my doubts. I wonder if you really need to know exactly what happened to us–me, you, Callie–at the hands of our unpredictable, vicious mother. How we lived back then, when I was fifteen and you only seven, all of us full of fear. And then full of hope when we met Murdoch, the man who seemed to be showing us an easier future. What Murdoch did and what he couldn’t do. What you and I did. Part of me hopes that you’ll go along happily your whole life and never want to know the details.
But I need to make sense of it. I need to try to turn the experience into something valuable for you, and for myself–not just something to be pushed away and forgotten. Emmy, the events we lived through taught me to be sure of nothing about other people. They taught me to expect danger around every corner. They taught me to understand that there are people in this world who mean you harm.
Matthew
Available formats-
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Copies-
  • Available:
    1
  • Library copies:
    1
Levels-
  • ATOS:
    4.3
  • Lexile:
    660
  • Interest Level:
    MG+
  • Text Difficulty:
    3


 
Awards-
About the Author-
  • Nancy Werlin is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of The Killer’s Cousin, The Rules of Survival, Impossible, and a host of other young adult novels. She received her BA from Yale, was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start author for her first novel, and has since established herself as a writer of literary teen suspense. Werlin lives with her husband near Boston, Massachusetts.

    Daniel Passer is an actor who has appeared in film, television, and stage productions. He was the lead clown and comedy conceptor for the world tour of Cirque du Soleil's spectacle Zarkana directed by François Girard. Passer has taught commedia/clown/improvisation at the Moscow Art Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Brown University, Harvard University, Cornell University, California Institute of the Arts, Trinity College, the Second City, University of Redlands, and University of Alaska. He is also a founding member of the clown troupes Your New Best Friends (World Stages, New York City), Gods of Sex, and The Rotten Plantains (45 Bleecker, New York City).
Reviews-
  • AudioFile Magazine Daniel Passer's voice is gentle as he tells a horrific story. Fifteen-year-old Matthew and 13-year-old Callie try to protect their 7-year-old sister, Emmy, from the unpredictable rages and cruelties of their mother. They reach out to their aunt, their estranged father, and Murdoch, a stranger turned friend who seems to be a man of courage, in an attempt to get help. This is a story of survival, and as the subtle but brutal abuse mounts, Passer's soft voice expresses a mix of the hush of secrecy and a prayer for an impossible rescue. The courage of Matt and Callie and their eventual release from their mother will make listeners want to cheer. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
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    All copies of this title, including those transferred to portable devices and other media, must be deleted/destroyed at the end of the lending period.

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The Rules of Survival
The Rules of Survival
Nancy Werlin
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