Book Journey traveled to Vermont! (See updated map here)
Coffee and a book store combo in Vermont? Yes! At Seasoned Books and Bakery
532 pages audio: 19 hours and 55 minutes (chunkster!!!)
Cover Story: It works. While Jacob is actually quite a bit older than the boy pictured here – this could represent Jacob as a younger boy and his sense of isolation
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.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
First let me get this out of the way. I adore Jodi Piccoult’s writing style. From the first time I read her with My Sister’s Keeper I knew I was on to a “must read” author. When I followed up with Nineteen Minutes and discovered lightning can strike twice and Jodi has once again glued my eyes to a book , I pursued her books like an addiction.
Piccoult writes a court case that makes you feel as thought you are sitting on the jury. In House Rules, I am introduced to wonderfully detailed characters such as Emma, single mother and sole bread winner for herself and her two sons, Jacob and Theo. Life did not turn out as planned for Emma when Jacob is diagnosed as having Asperger’s and with that announcement, Emma’s husband Henry departed soon after.
Theo is the younger brother but he doesn’t feel that way. He is always having to help out with Jacob and his plans are always put on the back burner when Jacob has a need. Which… in Theo’s opinion… is pretty much all the time.
We meet Oliver, a young and upcoming lawyer who is just starting out in an office/apartment. When Jacob is accused of murdering his tutor, Oliver is who Emma finds and who becomes very close to the family.
And then of course there is Jacob. I loved his character. Jacob has Asperger’s, in his own words he thinks it sounds funny, “Asperger’s. I mean, doesn’t it sound like a Grade Z cut of meat? Donkey on the barbecue?” Jacob is smart, and witty, but does not process relationships well. He takes everything at face value. If you say you are going to hit the hay, he will wonder where you are going to find hay and why you would hit it. He likes his routines:
- Monday: All food must be green
- Tuesday: All food must be red
- Wednesday: All food must be yellow
- His clothing is arranged by color
- The Crime Show he likes to watch is on at 4:30 and he will not miss it.
As odd as all this sounds. You have to love Jacob. On the audio – I loved the chapters that were his. He was always so matter of fact. He would dryly tell you why things were the way they were and he loved to make lists… and count…
All together, this incredibly character driven book knocked the ball out of the part. The characters were real, the crime left me up in the air throughout the entire book, I thought he couldn’t have done it, then later thought of course he did it, then I thought he was covering for someone else, then I went back tot here is no way he did it… and then back to – of course he did, but he didn’t know what he was doing.
An a+ read all the way until the end.
ahem.
Until the end.
Suddenly the whole story lined was wrapped up in the matter of minutes. When what happened finally came to light, the book made me think that author Jodi Piccoult suddenly looked at her watch and saw she was late for an appointment and signed off with a “The End.”
Listening to the last part of this audio while working in my office this week, when they announced that was the end of the audio I looked bewildered at my IPOD and said loudly, “No way!”
I don’t mean to discourage anyone from this read because as all Piccoult books it is incredibly powerful and the subject of Asperger’s was so informative that I was glad I had spent the time once again with the powerful mind of Jodi Piccoult.
I purchased this audio from audible.com
Book Journey 