Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Author: Mark Haddon
Publication Date: 2002
Number of Pages: 226
Genre: Fiction (Young Adult appeal)
Geographical Setting: England
Time Period: 2000s
Series: N/A
Plot: Somebody killed Mrs. Shears’ dog Wellington—but it wasn’t Christopher. But he is going to find out who did it. Christopher’s dad isn’t too happy though about him sticking his nose in other people’s business and forbids him from doing any “detecting.” Christopher finds some ways around his promise to his dad to not look for the dog murderer and through the encouragement of his teacher at a special needs school, Christopher writes a book about his experiences as he tries to solve this murder mystery.
Subject Headings: autism, savant, Asperger syndrome, mathematics, murder mystery, special needs
Appeal: protagonist and narrator is a 15 year old boy with “special needs”—it is not stated explicitly that he has a form of autism (Asperger syndrome). Protagonist is a mathematical savant, has a photographic memory and struggles with understanding other peoples’ behaviors, gestures and expressions; illustrations; use of well-know math and logic puzzles with answers in the appendix; chapters are numbered by prime numbers; struggles of parents to raise and live with a child with extreme reactions to everyday experiences like hugging and being in a busy store; lies parents tell children to ‘protect” them.
If you liked The Curious Incident…, you might enjoy: Judy Barron’s There’s A Boy In Here, Marti Leimbach’s Daniel Isn’t Talking, Martha Witt’s Broken As Things Are
