Book Review

Our book club chose the book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, as its latest read. The Boston Globe heralds the book as "Gloriously eccentric and wonderfully intelligent." And I have to agree. This short (and easy) read was written from the perspective of a young boy named Christopher who has autism. His quirks make him endearing. For instance, if he sees 5 red cars on the way to school it will surely be a Super Good Day. But, if he sees 3 yellow cars in a row then it will surely be a Black Day. All this for no reason other than Red is his favorite and he can't stand Yellow.

After Christopher overcomes serious obstacles to take his advanced Math exam, he reflects on his journeys and realizes he is able to look to his future with hope: "And I know I can do this [become a scientist] because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery of WHO KILLED WELLINGTON? and I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything." (For those of you who teach special ed, can't you just HEAR a child with autism talking like this? A mark of a good writer-taking on the perspective of a very different character than his own)

All of you non-special educators will enjoy peering into the life of someone with a disability; learning to fight for his cause; and cheering him on through his daily struggles and triumphs in a world viewed through severely different lenses...all of you teachers/special educators...well, laugh at the accuracy of the stories and plights of Christopher [insert names of your students here].