the rules of survival

     This book is about a 17 year old boy named Mathew who is telling his little sister about their life when they were younger. They are going through emotional struggles so Matt begins to tell life stories. Their mom is very abusive and at times childish. Matt also has a sister named Callie that also that also gets abused by their mother. Matt talks about how his mother one day cut his arm for stealing a cookie when it was time to go to bed. But at the same time she was laughing while she was cutting him. The kids hope for a miracle, but soon enough, they.
     One day, the kids are hot and they want something to cool them down. So, while the baby is sleeping Callie and Matt sneak out the house to get some popsicles. When they get there they begin to pick out what popsicles they want, when suddenly they realize they dont have enough money. They hear a man yelling at his son for taking some candy. But then they see a man trying to stop the conflict. He tells the father if he wants to someone hit me and not the kid. The father begins to back off the kid. Then the other man begins to talk to the boy and tells him that he doesn't deserve to get beat up no matter what. Before the boy and his father leave the boy pays for the candy and gives it to the man. His name was Murdoch. Then Murdoch at Matt with a grin and tossed the candy to Matt. After that day it changed Matts life. He searched everywhere for Murdoch because he wanted to be his friend, and thats what he look foward to from that day on.