The Rules of Survival

Nancy Werlin
Dial Books (2006)
ISBN 0803730012
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (10/06)

From the moment I saw the cover of this book I knew that I would find pain within.  The pain of a young man facing the abusive life he’s survived.  “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.”

Chillingly Matt recounts the night he sneaked into the kitchen and took an Oreo.  His mother, Nikki, held a knife to his throat and cut him, to teach him to never again steal. This is just one incident in the nightmare he calls childhood.

Matt’s father was gone but Matt couldn’t blame him, after all he too was terrified of Nikki.   For a while Murdoch seemed to offer some protect from their mother, but, he too found himself unable to cope with the destructive behavior of Nikki.  He cared but was it enough?  Matt knew it was up to him.  He knew he had to find a way to get his two sisters and himself away from, their mother, Nikki, before she destroyed them all.  Matt turned to his father Ben for help, but Ben was too afraid of his former wife to rescue his own children.

This is the story of a brother’s attempt to protect his younger sister from their abusive mother. The story is told in the format of letters from Matt to his dear sister, Emmy, trying to explain and warn her about life with their abusive mother.  “As I sit here writing, part of me hopes that you go along happily your whole life and never need or want to know the details.”

This book is painful to read.  But it should be read.  There are many children facing the same situation and we, as society, must stop turning our backs on our precious children.  This book is well written.  The type is large enough for tired eyes to easily read it.  The characters are so real that you cry for them.  I found myself wanting to snatch them from their mother’s insane antics and give them safety.  I highly recommend “Rules of Survival” for older youth and adults. 

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