This month's book to talk about is THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME by Mark Haddon.

This book is about a boy with a keen attention to details, trying to figure out how the world works as he tries to solve the mystery of a murdered dog.

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. At fifteen, Christopher’ s carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbor’s dog Wellington impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing. Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer, and turns to his favorite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents’ marriage. As Christopher tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, the narrative draws readers into the workings of Christopher’ s mind.  -reprinted with permission from RandomHouse.com 

Discussion

1. If you know someone with autism or an autism spectrum disorder, do you think the book accurately protrayed this set of disorders?  Which parts of the book were accurate?  Where do you think Christopher’s characteristics were inaccurate?
2. Did you enjoy the story as told by Christopher? Would it have been as intriguing if told by another character?
3. Were you able to find any justification in the behavior of his mother and father?
4. Did you enjoy the illustrations in the novel or were they more of a distraction?
5. There is a little bit of Christopher in all of us.  Are there certain aspects of your life that has to be done a certain way?

Below are a few more reading guides and discussion questions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curious_Incident_of_the_Dog_in_the_Night-Time

http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/13-fiction/238-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time-haddon?start=3

http://bestsellers.about.com/od/bookclubquestions/a/curious_q.htm

http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/curious_incident_dog1.asp

Just a few pages about Asperger's Syndrome. There are a lot more.

http://www.aspergers.com/aspclin.html

http://theweek.com/article/index/238067/5-important-facts-and-misconceptions-about-aspergers-syndrome