The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime was written by Mark Haddon, a British novelist and poet. He wrote the story from the perspective of a fifteen year old boy with Asperger Syndrome, which is part of the autism spectrum. He worked with autistic people as a young adult, which partially explains how he was able to write such a descriptive, authentic and believable character. Additionally, he seemed to have an insider's view on the day-to-day lives and struggles of those on the autism spectrum.

In the story, the main character, Christopher, is trying to solve the mystery of who killed a neighborhood dog. Christopher lives with his father in Swindon, a town in southwest England. In the course of his inquiries, he finds out some previously unknown information about his family, namely that his father had lied to him about his mother's death the year before. His mother wasn't dead, but had left them. When Christopher found out that his mom was alive and living in London with a former neighbor, he felt as if he could no longer trust his father not to lie to him and sets out in search of his mother, on his own. The author did a great job describing Christopher's train of thought, his anxieties, his heightened senses, his extreme intelligence in some areas and his lack of skills in other areas. I think anyone would find this book to be fascinating. It will make you think twice before you see someone on the bus, train or at the store and think of them as "strange".

One quick note- I know Scholastic book fairs carry this book (we just had ours at school), but I would not recommend it for anyone under the age of 15 or so. It was written as a book for adults and young adults. It has some course language and skirts some adult topics.