Author: Nancy Werlin
Publisher: Penguin Group, 288 pages.
Copyright: 2008
Summary:
Plot: Matt, Callie, and Emmy struggle to survive under the wing of their tyrranical and unstable mother. When their mother begins dating Murdoch, things begin to look up, but then slowly spiral back down, leaving Matt with an important decision to make.
Major Characters: The Walsh Family (Matt, Callie, Emmy, and Nikki) and Murdoch M
Major Subjects: Parental abuse, Problem Novel, Realistic Fiction
VOYA Review:
Unlike Werlin's previous four novels, this latest includes nary a mystery element. But the departure from genre does not mean that Werlin's newest book lacks suspense. If anything, it is one of her most deliciously harrowing works. Eighteen-year-old narrator Matthew introduces the novel with a letter to his younger sister, Emmy; the body of the book is what he calls the "true story of our family's past" and is written in short, tight, first-person chapters that occasionally address his sister-and readers, his "real" audience. In the novel, Matthew recounts his thirteenth through sixteenth years, during which he, Emmy, and their "middle" sister, Callie, lived in a small apartment in South Boston with their manic and abusive mother. Much of what Matthew describes involves his and Callie's attempts to protect the younger and more vulnerable Emmy. The siblings spend much of their time on edge, attempting to appease their mercurial mother and protect Emmy from her often-violent wrath. When their mother begins dating a complicated man named Murdoch, Matthew casts this newcomer as the family's savior and is frustrated and depressed when Murdoch does not immediately rise to the occasion. The plot moves swiftly and unrelentingly to a climax that visits themes common to some of Werlin's earlier works and offers an uneasy recognition of the same conclusion David Yaffe voiced in The Killer's Cousin (Delacorte, 1998/VOYA October 1998), "Anyone in this world can have the power of life and death over someone else. It's horrible, but true."
Review:
Set in South Boston, The Rules of Survival is the story of three kids whose childhoods are held hostage by a severely volatile, unpredictable, and cruel mother, who goes from placid cool to angry demon in seconds. Their mother, Nikki Walsh, regularly locks her three kids in 100-degree rooms without a second thought, pushes a butcher knife onto the throat of her son, Matt, and has frequent, volcanic eruptions of rage.
But then Matt discovers Murdoch, a man he witnessed rescuing a little boy in the convenience store from the rage of his father. Matt is star-struck by this convenience store savior and immediately becomes focused on finding him once again, befriending him, and gaining his trust. With some luck and gusto, Matt's sister, Callie, finds out where Murdoch lives and presents Matt a piece of paper with his name, address, and a phone number. Then, their mom comes home and after one thing leading to another, Murdoch and their mom begin dating.
Then, life’s almost good for a whole three months. When Murdoch dumps their mom, all roads lead to hell. Nikki Walsh goes back to cocaine, the drink, serial dating, and putting her kids' lives in danger. Matt knows he’ll need to take action, but can he survive these measures alone?
The novel is written in letter form – from Matthew, the oldest child, to Emmy, the youngest – in which Matthew lays out the stories his sister may have been too young to remember about their mother and the events that led to their eventual escape from her. This book-length letter is a cathartic working-through for Matt, a young man who would have fled if it weren’t for the responsibility of protecting his sisters, who’s still haunted by the ceaseless fear of his childhood and the survival impulse to kill that eventually came of that fear. Since Emmy is the recipient of the letter, and also an actor in the stories Matthew writes, Werlin hits on an unusual, but effective 1st-person-meets-2nd-person format that allows for a painful honesty and engaging immediacy to the story that will make your heart race.
Reading Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Notes about Audience: Recommended for ages 13 and up.
Favorite Line: "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 that mean you harm, And sometimes, they're the people who say they love you."
Other books by Nancy Werlin:
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