The Seven Rules of Elvira Carr

May 15, 2017
Maynard, who teaches adults with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders, draws on her professional experience for her fiction debut. At age 27, neuro-atypical Elvira Carr has largely been sheltered from the outside world. When her well-meaning but overbearing mother is confined to a nursing home following a stroke, Elvira must unexpectedly learn to navigate an unfamiliar social landscape and her family history. Her next-door neighbor helps Elvira understand the often perplexing language and behavior of the “NormalTypicals” Elvira encounters during volunteer work at her mother’s nursing home and at the local zoo, but Elvira is left to figure out many of the titular rules for social behavior on her own. Meanwhile, she begins to suspect that there may be more to the story of her now-deceased father’s long absences during her childhood than she had previously been led to believe. The author’s portrait of Elvira’s inner life is nuanced, even if the “rules” structure at times hinders the narrative. Unfortunately, the reader is unlikely to be surprised by any of the story’s revelations, which are unearthed through deliberate, near-plodding pacing.

May 1, 2017
Debut author Maynard never uses labels to describe Elvira Carr, a different young woman with a social awkwardness that causes her mother to isolate her from the rest of the community. When her mother suffers a stroke and is moved to a nursing home, Ellie constructs a plan for surviving on her own, creating seven rules to help her fit into a world she doesn't always understand. Initially frustrated that the rules don't always seem to work, Ellie struggles to find her place and convince those around her that she can care for herself, but she soon discovers that the people who count don't need her to change. Maynard paints a charming character in Ellie that will make readers smile and occasionally want to take her under a protective arm. Ellie's narration grabs readers' hearts by placing them in the middle of her anxiety about doing the right thing. The inevitable comparisons to Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Project (2013) and Julia Claiborne Johnson's Be Frank with Me (2016) are natural, but Ellie's authentic voice offers a fresh perspective on being different.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)