by Mark Haddon
Vintage Contemporaries, 2004. 226 pages. Fiction
For 15-year-old autistic savant Christopher, interacting with people is a challenge. He has a hard time processing his own and other people's emotions because they aren't like numbers and equations. Or physics and science. Or anything else that makes sense. After a school counselor suggests he write a story that he would like to read, Christopher decides to investigate the murder of his neighbor's dog, Wellington, and write what he finds. It doesn't take long before he finds himself in the middle of a lot more than just a pet homicide.
This book was much different than any other book I have read before. The formatting and the voice were unique and they greatly contributed to the success of the story. I felt that the author did a great job of capturing the challenges of at least one individual with autism and perhaps many others. It opened my eyes to the differences between the way that some people see and experience the world and how different it is from the way I experience things. I also felt very deeply for Christopher, and I enjoyed all the other characters presented in the book. Although this book didn't end perfectly, I did feel quite satisfied with the way that things did end.
LH
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