House Rules by Jodi Picoult

House Rules: A Novel

This is the story of a 17 year old Asperger's boy who is arrested for a murder he didn't do. Because he has Asperger's, his normal mannerisms are interpreted by the police as guilt. There is a good description of his autistic tendencies, and Jodi Picoult has obviously done her homework well, but the thing I didin't like about this book was the fact that it is fiction. There are many, many real life stories of autistic children, that I felt there didn't need to be a fiction story of an autistic person. Having said that, I found the information about Asperger's and autism to be correct, even the part where she suggests many parents of autistic children blame immunizations for the condition of their children. There is a discussion on immunizations for a couple of pages, without a definitive answer either way, which is how it is in the real world.

Autism and its milder form, Asperger's, is becoming increasingly common in society. So when we read this book in book club we got a larger turn out than usual and many of the people who came have an autistic child, or know of one personally. For those who are not related to autism, the book was very informative.

Here's another Jodi Picoult book I have reviewed
Change of Heart

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