Alison lives by many rules to help her cope with the sadness of her mother's death, in this new title by the well-known author of TRUTH OR DAIRY and FROZEN RODEO. The rules keep Alison in a brittle existence that is shattered by further traumatic events involving her friends. Alison learns that the pain of emotions rather than the numb existence she was striving for is actually better, as it helps her heal.

Catherine Clark's previous novels were popular for their realistic characters and humorous situations, similar in style to Joan Bauer's books. Her female characters pursued their own interests and dreams in addition to dating and friends. THE ALISON RULES deviates from her usual style and themes.

Alison herself is the narrator and keeps her mother's death a secret from readers until late in the book. We later understand that she was not ready to deal with her mother's death, let alone talk about it. But it would have made her a more sympathetic character if she had let us in on what exactly her problem was from the first few pages. It is not until we know what is going on that her rules begin to make sense. For example, she will not use her locker, we understand later, because she was standing by it when she was paged to the principal's office and learned of her mother's death.

Laurie, Alison's best friend, does her best to support her. Their friendship is a strength of this book…until they fall out over liking the same boy. This storyline is disappointing to find here, but Clark has the friendship come first with the girls (even though they have a hurtful argument about it) rather than the boy, in a refreshing twist.

A sudden surprise tragedy near the end of the book will cause readers to bring out the Kleenex. It's hard to accept that this final blow actually helps Alison begin to heal, but readers will not be sorry that it does. More pages could have been spent on that process.