my two cents worth on House Rules

i have just finished reading the latest novel by jodi picoult - House Rules.  started reading it a few weeks back and have been dying to read it until the end, except didnt have much time to do so until this weekend, and i finally finished it, yeaayyy...

House Rules is a lovely book. i generally like jodi picoult's way of writing but there are books of hers which i did not find interesting such as "Mercy" - could not take the unfaithful bit of the husband and the undying love she had for him even when he had cheated on her.  Anyway "Mercy" and all other novels aside, House Rules deals with a teenage boy with Asperger's syndrome, Jacob Hunt who is accused of murder. There were other characters such as his mom, Emma; his normal younger brother who had to bear it all, Theo; the young fresh lawyer that later got romantically involved with Emma, named Oliver; the father who walked out on the family when Jacob was three, Henry (though he only came into the scene much later in the book), and the detective, Rich.

i learnt quite a bit about Asperger's syndrome from this novel - like many kids with AS, Jacob is hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others. he takes everything said literally. like if you say "wait here a minute", he will count up to 60 and then wonder why you are not back yet.  he desperately wants to fit in but simply can't understand  social behaviour that is intuitive to the rest of us.  he won't be able to interpret a nonverbal cue, such as a yawn signifying boredom when he is hogging the conversation.  but someone with Asperger's can have a genius-level IQ and can hold a conversation better with an adult rather than his peers.

i enjoyed the book and would recommend it. however having said that, if this book is meant to be a murder mystery, that would be a bit of a letdown since i actually figured it out even before Jacob was arrested.  the other disappointment is how the book ends after you find out how things really happened, but no indication or elaboration into how this changes things for any of the characters.

regardless, the struggle of the single mom depicted in this book gave me a new kind of respect for mothers having to deal with their special kids.  they must be supermoms to be able to get through their days.  many times the book tugs at my heartstrings being a mom myself and my heart also went out to Jacob for not being able to be in touch with his own emotions and for being an outcast.  the novel is well written and House Rules is definitely worth the read...