The curious incident of the dog in the night-time was a unique novel written by the perspective of a teenaged boy with autism.  The story began when Christopher discovered that the neighbours dog had been slain with a pitchfork.  He decided to solve the mystery of what happened to the dog, starting a cascade of events that would be life changing.

Christopher lived alone with his father following the sudden death of his mother.  His father understood his unique and specific requirements (such as he did not like yellow) and the two of them were trying to adjust to a life without a wife/mother.  Christopher spent time alone after school which gave him time for investigation – and snooping.

His father was not supportive of his quest to solve the crime and instructed him to stop the detective work.  Christopher responded by covertly asking questions disobeying his father’s demand.  As he discovered information, things quickly escalated leading to a big discovery.  I can’t describe any further without providing a spoiler so will encourage readers to pick up this novel to learn what Christopher uncovers.

The book was a quick and enjoyable read.  It will provide perspective on the day-to-day challenges and uniqueness that some individuals with autism experience.  The chapters are numbered only using prime numbers and there are math problems, diagrams and pictures at intervals throughout the book.  As mentioned in a previous blog post, I am not a fan of authors who don’t capitalize the titles or their names on their books but based on the idiosyncrasies of the narrator, this did seem to fit this book.  The curious incident of the dog in the night-time is a great book for everyone to read and may assist the reader to understand the needs of some individuals with autism.