Fiction, Whitbread Book of the Year 2003 and New York Times Notable Book 2003
possible classroom uses: read aloud, individual choice, small group, bridge to Sherlock Holmes novels
appropriate age range: 9th-12th
Synopsis: This is the story of Christopher John Francis Boone who is an autistic teenaged boy. The story begins with him finding a dead dog in the middle of his neighborhood street in the middle of the night, and he is determined to solve this mystery. In uncovering who killed the dog, he learns the truth about his mother, more details about his neighbors' lives, and lies his father told him. Amid his quest for truth, he unintentionally stumbles upon life lessons about growing up, forgiveness, and flexibility. Christopher is a very determined young man who is simply captivating with his elaborately complex tangents that he willingly shares without a moment's notice.
Evaluation: I thought the characterization was phenomenal. The majority of the characters were fully developed and dynamic with only a few flat characters throughout the novel. There was a little good and a little bad to each main character, making it difficult to categorize the characters and more challenging as a reader to define the characters. The plot was clearly defined but unexpected and unpredictable. The themes throughout the book were death, confusion, disrupting structure. The book was set in Swindon, England and London, England. The style was stream-of-consciousness fiction. The book illustrates how growing up can be frightening, frustrating, and confusing; and it illustrates an extreme version of some adolescents' coping strategies. Haddon addresses primarily the cognitive and emotional development of adolescents through Christopher's character. This book addresses the multicultural issues of exceptionality through divulging the inner workings of an autistic mind. The other characters treat Christopher as a valued individual who deserves respect and independence. This novel also addresses gender by questioning the stereotypes of gender roles.
Reaction: I loved The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. It was extremely interesting viewing the world from the mind of an autistic teenage boy. His descriptions of the people in his life, his daily circumstances, and the tangents pulled from his memory are portrayed from a unique perspective. The story is cohesive and fluid, yet it is constantly interrupted with obscure thoughts from the speaker’s point of view adding to the validity that the speaker is a teenage boy with autism. Mark Haddon conveys a deep novel that continually drives the reader on to see what will happen next. He uses the intriguing tangents as an agent of suspense, and he succeeds beautifully.
2 comments:
This sounds like such an interesting novel. I don't think that I've ever read anything that tells the story of someone with disabilities through their eyes. Of course, it seems as though we'll rarely see something like that even though many multicultural texts exist. I'll definately have to add this to my must-read list that I've quickly been adding to.
I have been wanting to read this book for a long time. I have never really thought about it as YA Lit before, but you have given it new life for me. I am going to read this book this week, and thanks to your review, I can hardly wait. Have a great weekend. See you soon! Too soon :)
Katy
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