from Nancy Werlin
In the end, the survivor gets to tell the story.
What's It About?About Writing this Book
Read an Excerpt
ReviewS and Awards
Publication Info
Link to Discussion Guide
Link to Teacher's Guide
What's it About?
"The Rules of Survival spoke to me. I was there for every minute, reverse-wish-fulfilling as I read. The outcome made knots in my chest come undone."
— Tamora Pierce
The Rules of Survival, which was one of five finalists for the 2006 National Book Award, is the story of Matthew Walsh of South Boston, and his sisters, Callie and Emmy. It's written in the form of a long letter to Matt's youngest sister.
He says: "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. And sometimes, they’re people who say they love you, and mean it."
Matt has long since put himself in charge of protecting his sisters from their enemy.
And who is their enemy?
It's Nikki O'Grady Walsh. Their mother. Who loves them.
Matt's managed to keep himself and his sisters safe, more or less. He's done okay. But secretly, inside, he's growing tired and hopeless.
Then, suddenly, there's a possible ally on the horizon. Someone who can maybe help him get rid of his mother for good.
Murdoch. His mother's ex-boyfriend.
About Writing this Book
Nancy says:
"The Rules of Survival is probably the darkest novel I have written to date, even though, like all my books, it ends hopefully. I do that in writing because that is the way I choose to live, and so that is the gift I always try to give to my characters.
"The novel began its ife as a short story that I wrote in spring of 2001, after witnessing a scary little incident that you may recognize, because I bet you’ve witnessed something like it, too, at least once in your life. The story is very short. It’s called SAFE, and it’s in the form of a monologue.
[Click to read the short story (opens in new window).]
"I was somewhat horrified with this little story. I put it aside. I thought it was a story for adults, not teens, and that the complexities of adult interaction that the story works with were written to help me work something out for myself, rather than for publication.
"But the elements of the story—the woman who was speaking, the child in the background, and the man who said, “Hit me,”—they wouldn’t leave me alone. There was a longer story there for me to explore. I didn’t quite know what it was, but eventually I realized I had to sit down and go into its dark places and find out.
"As a result, I spent close to three years trapped in my own head with three children who were in danger from adult violence, and who needed to find a way to save themselves, to make themselves safe. They are Matthew, Callie, and Emmy Walsh, of South Boston, Massachusetts. Matthew, the oldest child, a teenager, has taken responsibility for his sisters. Keeping them safe is his job, he feels.
"If you read the excerpt from The Rules of Survival, below, you will see exactly how the short story you just read began to transform into the novel."
* * *
More from Nancy about the writing of this book can be found in an interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith, here.
Read an Excerpt
From The Rules of Survival
copyright © 2006 by Nancy Werlin.
Then
I saw him. Murdoch. Okay, I saw him but I didn’t really see
him. That came a few minutes later. I just glanced around the store.
There was a teenager at the cash register behind the front candy counter.
A huge, barrel-shaped man stood in front of the counter with a little
boy, smaller even than you were then. And Murdoch (of course I didn’t
know his name then) and his date (a woman I never saw again) were
in line behind the man with the boy.
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 in 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, hair shaved close to the skull, medium build. 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 man, Murdoch, was calm. At the same time, there was this sort of feeling coming from him. Some kind of coiled tension.
Callie and I were behind Murdoch, and to the left, so we had only a partial view of Murdoch’s face and expression. But we had a full-on view of the barrel-shaped man. And we had a good 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 coiled 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.
“Hit me,” Murdoch said. “Come on. Better me than the kid. Why not? You want to.”
And then it was all over. The man blinked and took a step back. He said something, loudly, about having had a hard day and it doesn’t hurt a kid to learn to keep his hands to himself. And Murdoch was nodding even though I guessed that he was thinking what I was about that man. But Murdoch turned away from the father as if he was no threat anymore. He knelt on the floor in front of the little kid.
You could smell the kid’s fear floating on the stale, air-conditioned store air. He stole one little look behind Murdoch at the big man, and you could see him thinking, I’ll have to pay for this later.
But Murdoch talked directly to the kid. “It’s wrong for anybody ever to hurt you. No matter who does it, it’s wrong. Can you remember that?”
The kid’s eyes were now huge. He looked at the big man again. Then back at Murdoch. Then he nodded.
“You’ll remember that?” Murdoch insisted. “You don’t have to do anything else. You just have to remember.”
He waited.
The kid nodded. Solemnly.
“Good,” said Murdoch.
The kid reached out one hand toward him. In it was the package of Reese’s Pieces. Murdoch took it and said, “Thank you.” He stood up in one smooth motion. He put the package on the counter. But his eyes didn’t leave the little boy. The little boy kept looking back, too, while the big man finished paying for his stuff and then hustled the kid outside.
As the door slammed behind them, there was complete silence in the store.
It was then I realized that Callie had grabbed my hand and was holding it.
“Oh, hello?” said the woman who was with Murdoch. “Hello, Murdoch? You should have thought about me. What if there was a big fight and I got hurt? What kind of a date do you think that would be? Huh? Murdoch? Are you listening to me? Murdoch!”
Murdoch, I thought. It was a name I had never heard before. A strange name.
It suited him.
Murdoch didn’t reply. His eyes had narrowed into slits. He held up the pack of Reese’s Pieces and said to the teenage clerk, “I’ll take these. And the ice coffee.” The woman sighed and shrugged. She moved a step closer to Murdoch, but without even looking at her, he took a step away.
One more moment from my memory of that night: on his way out the door, Murdoch turned. He tossed the Reese’s Pieces underhand to me and Callie. He smiled at us as he did it, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. And he wasn’t thinking about us at all, or really seeing us. I could tell. Not the way he’d seen that little boy.
He was still giving off that invisible coiled pulse of—whatever it was.
He was still angry.
Then he was gone.
* * *
I stood in that convenience store on that hot summer night and stared after him, and I thought: I have to know that man.
There is a word for this feeling, Emmy. It’s called obsession.
I was obsessed with Murdoch for months before our mother ever met him. In fact, if not for me, she never would have met him.
Reviews and Awards
Awards:
- A 2006 National Book Award finalist, Young People's Literature (Click here for Nancy's National Book Award Blog.)
- A Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist.
- An ALA Best Books for Young Adults: Top Ten Choice.
- An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Teen Readers.
- A School Library Journal Best Book of 2006.
- A Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book of 2006.
- A Voya Review "Perfect 10" for 2006.
- A Top Ten BookSense Winter 2006-2007 Children's Book Pick.
- A Kansas City Star Noteworthy Book of 2006.
- A New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age.
- A Capitol Choices Noteworthy Book selection, 2007.
- A Junior Library Guild selection.
- Cybils Young Adult Book award finalist, 2007 (online community award)
- JHunt Young Adult Book award nominee 2007 (online community award)
- A Texas Tayshas reading list selection for 2007-2008.
- A Rhode Island Teen Book Award nominee for 2007-2008.
- A Virginia Readers' Choice list selection for 2008-2009.
- A Missouri Gateway Readers Award list selection for 2008-2009.
- An Iowa High School Book Award 2008-2009 Master List selection.
- A South Carolina Book Award 2008-2009 Master List selection.
- A Tennessee Volunteer State Book Awards selection, 2008-2009.
- A Washington State Evergreen Master List selection for 2009.
- An Oklahoma Sequoyah Young Adult Master List selection for 2009.
Reviews:
- "Werlin tackles the topic of child abuse with
grace and insight. ... The characters captivate readers from the beginning,
and short, terse chapters move the plot along with an intensity that
will appeal to seasoned Werlin fans and reluctant readers alike. Teens
will empathize with these siblings and the secrets they keep in this
psychological horror story."
—School Library Journal (starred review, 9/2006) - "Werlin reinforces her reputation as a master
of the YA thriller, pulling off a brilliant departure in this dark
but hopeful tale, with pacing and suspense guaranteed to leave readers
breathlessly turning the pages."
—Booklist (starred review, 8/2006) - "In this heartbreaking tale of abuse and love,
14-year-old Matthew rescues himself and his younger sisters from a
dangerously unstable mother .... Beautifully framed as a letter from
Matthew to his younger sister, the suspense is paced to keep Matthew's
survival and personal revelations chock-full of dramatic tension.
Bring tissues."
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review, 7/15/2006) - "One of [Werlin]'s most deliciously harrowing
works."
—Voya ("Perfect 10" 5Q/5P, 9/2006) - "An excellent mystery; with heartbreaking descriptions
of child abuse, both physical and psychological."
—Kliatt (starred review, 10/2006)
- "Fans of the Edgar Award-winning The Killer’s Cousin
will not be disappointed with Werlin’s latest offering, which
is not only a suspenseful psychological thriller but a compelling
and unusual insight into the experience of child abuse."
— Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Recommended (9/2006) - "Edgar Award-winner Werlin delivers another suspense-filled
thriller that is sure to spark discussion."
— Horn Book Magazine (Sept/Oct 2006) - "One of literature's most despicable mothers."
— Publishers Weekly (10/9/2006) - "An exceptional novel, appropriate for all teens."
— Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (4/2007) - Audiobook review: "This audio production is a good example
of narrator and text matching perfectly, turning an intense novel
into a very listenable book."
— The Horn Book (March/April 2008) - "The Rules of Survival spoke to me. I was there for every minute,
reverse-wish-fulfilling as I read. The outcome made knots in my chest
come undone."
— Tamora Pierce - "As realistic an account of adult narcissism’s devastating
toll on children as has been portrayed in teen literature. One of
the best from one of our best writers for teens."
—Walter M. Mayes, author of Walter and Valerie's Best Books for Children - "Gripping."
—Richie Partington, richiespicks.com - "This book is almost too scary to read. Listen, Nancy, could
you put in a note to make sure everybody knows that the mother is
not based on me?"
—Nancy's mother
Publication Info
- Reading level: Ages 14 and up
- ISBN-10: 0803730012 (hardcover)
ISBN-13: 978-0803730014 (hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0142410713 (paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-0142410714 (paperback) - U.S. Hardcover: Dial Books (Penguin Putnam Inc.), September, 2006.
- U.S. Paperback: Puffin Books (Penguin/Speak), March, 2008.
- Audiobook: Available from Listening Library, or download from iTunes and other sources of audiobooks.
- Translations: To come: Korean (Bomulchango Publishing), French (Editions Robert Laffont)
- Discussion Guide: Click here to see the Rules of Survival discussion guide.
- Teacher's Guide: Click here to see the Rules of Survival discussion guide.