The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

The Curous Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
226 pages
Published May 2004 by Vintage

Late one night, 15-yr-old Christopher Boone discovers, on a late night walk, that his neighbor's poodle, Wellington, has been impaled with a garden fork. This sets Christopher, who is a first accused of killing the dog, off on a detective mission to find the real killer. The complication for Christopher is that he is autistic...and that his father has forbidden him from looking into the matter. But Christopher, who always follows the rules...literally, continues his search for the truth. But the truth he finds is a much bigger surprise and leads Christopher to embark on a journey that would seem impossible for a person with his limitations.

This book is entirely written from Christopher's point of view which makes it quite unique. Christopher is very honest about his quirks (he does not like the color yellow or being touched) and open about his hopes (he is a mathematics genius). When Christopher sets off on his journey, the story does get a little long; but seeing how he is able to navigate his way around is quite interesting. The relationship between Christopher and his father is very touching; his father even goes out of his way to prepare meals for Christopher that meet his very stringent color requirements. There are some big issues for Christopher to deal with in this book and Haddon gets him through through them very believably. This story is told without pity or condescension.