This is the story of Catherine, a twelve-year-old girl who loves art and longs for a friend. Catherine is the sister and often-babysitter for her autistic brother, David, and she often has a hard time fitting in with her classmates because of David’s behaviors. She works hard to help David be more “normal,” specifically by giving him rules to live by that most people take for granted. Her best friend is away for the summer visiting her father, so Catherine is excited when she learns that the family moving in next door includes a girl her age. She spends most of her summer days helping her mother with David, visiting the clinic where David receives occupational therapy, and hoping that Christy, her new neighbor, will not be scared off by David’s differences. At the clinic, Catherine befriends a wheelchair-bound boy named Jason who ”talks” through a communication book he keeps with him at all times. The story somewhat predictably comes to a climax when Catherine must choose whether or not to invite Jason to a community dance when challenged to do so by Christy, who doesn’t know about David’s disability.
