Jessica G. (jaguerns) - , reviewed on 8/16/2010 + 32 more book reviews

Christopher knows his age in days, can name all the capitols of the world, and even knows Latin. But he can't understand what it means if someone raises their eyebrow or why a joke is funny. His dream life would be as an astronaut, tucked away in a tiny room up in space, with no one around for thousands of miles, nothing but stars, computers, and quiet. And maybe his rat, Toby. But then Christopher sees his neighbor's dog, lying dead in the yard. He undertakes the task of being a detective and seeking out the murderer of furry Wellington. But the answer does not fit into the scope of his world and threatens to shatter it.

The concept of this book - that it was from the perspective of an autistic teenager - really appealed to me. I have a nephew that has Asperger's Syndrome and know several children in varying spectrums of the Autism rainbow. At first, I thought I was missing something...the book starts at Chapter 2. In fact, the chapters aren't sequential at all but Christopher explains himself: he prefers Prime numbers so he's chosen to number his chapters that way. In fact, he explains how he sees and thinks so vividly that I don't think I've ever understood Autism better. Definitely makes me appreciate the way I "glance" at things.

I would really like to recommend this book to my Book Group...but the language might be an issue.

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