Crazy-for-Books.com: Review: House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Review: House Rules by Jodi Picoult

6:27 PM | Thoughts by Jennifer (Crazy-for-Books) |

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Advanced Reader's Copy

530 pages

Publication Date: March, 2010

Amazon Link

The ever fabulous, Lori, from Lori's Reading Corner, was kind enough to send this book to me after she read it, so I could read it!! Thanks so much, Lori!! She's currently running a contest for someone to win this book and I'll be sending it to the lucky winner as soon as I get their information!

Synopsis from the author's website:

"HOUSE RULES is about Jacob Hunt, a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject – in his case, forensic analysis. He’s always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do…and he’s usually right. But then one day his tutor is found dead, and the police come to question him. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger’s – not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, inappropriate affect – can look a heck of a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel -- and suddenly, Jacob finds himself accused of murder. HOUSE RULES looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way – but lousy for those who don’t."

My Thoughts:

HOUSE RULES tells the story of Jacob Hunt, an 18 year old young man with Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism. He is a unique character: highly intelligent, but lacking even basic social skills. He is obsessed with crime scenes and faithfully watches his favorite tv show, CrimeBusters, every day at 4:30pm. He has over 100 notebooks in which he details each episode of CrimeBusters and how long it takes him to solve the crime (and if he solved it before the tv characters do!).

Jacob has difficulty communicating and socializing appropriately with his peers and other adults in his life. He takes what a person says literally. He doesn't understand metaphors and the nuances of language. His mother hires a social skills tutor, Jess Ogilvy, who really helps Jacob learn to communicate better and make appropriate responses during a conversation. You can tell that she has really helped him. He seems to develop a bit of a crush on her, which is really cute, but a bit awkward!

When Jess if found dead and Jacob is accused of murdering her, the reader gets an in depth look into how law enforcement and the court system handles a person with autism. It's really quite interesting. You really feel for Jacob's plight and want to jump in and help him out. Due to his socialization issues, the court process is very frustrating for him, to say the least. A very large chunk of this book details the entire process, from Jacob's arrest through to the end of the trial.

The book is told from the viewpoints of Jacob, his mother, Emma, his brother, Theo, his lawyer, Oliver, and the police officer who arrested him, Rich. At first I thought I would get confused with all these viewpoints, but I didn't. I don't know that we needed them all, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story and I didn't get confused at all while reading it.

You will grow to love Jacob, Emma, and Theo and feel for how their lives were like growing up with Jacob's autism. Emma is such a strong mother, who never gave up on Jacob (like her ex-husband did when he left shortly after Theo was born). She has fought his entire life to get the accommodations that he needs to be successful in his life. We get a glimpse of her frustrations throughout this process and it is heartbreaking.

I really liked this book and I would highly recommend it! I'd rate it 4 stars.