The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Haddon, Mark

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. Routine, order and predictability shelter him from the messy, wider world. Then, 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 he tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, we are drawn into the workings of Christopher's mind.

And herein lies the key to the brilliance of Mark Haddon's choice of narrator: The most wrenching of emotional moments are chronicled by a boy who cannot fathom emotion. The effect is dazzling, making for a novel that is deeply funny, poignant, and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing is a mind that perceives the world literally.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is one of the freshest debuts in years: a comedy, a heartbreaker, a mystery story, a novel of exceptional literary merit that is great fun to read.

Author: Mark Haddon
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Published: 07/31/2003
Pages: 226
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780385512107

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.4
Point Value: 10
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 72354 / Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Award: Costa Book Awards - Winner
Award: Book Sense Book of the Year Award - Nominee
Award: Garden State Teen Book Award - Winner
Award: Carnegie Medal - Nominee
Award: L.A. Times Book Prize - Winner
Award: Costa Book Awards - Winner
Award: Tayshas Reading - Commended
Award: Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award - Nominee
Award: Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers - Nominee
Award: Colorado Blue Spruce Award - Nominee
Award: Grand Canyon Reader Award - Nominee
Award: Green Mountain Book Award - Nominee

Review Citation(s):
New Yorker (The) 08/04/2003 pg. 81
Discover 01/01/2004 pg. 80
Entertainment Weekly 12/26/2003 pg. 148
USA Today 12/03/2003 pg. 1
New York Times 12/07/2003 pg. 65

About the Author
MARK HADDON is a writer and illustrator of numerous award-winning children's books and television screenplays. As a young man, Haddon worked with autistic individuals. He teaches creative writing for the Arvon Foundation and at Oxford University. He lives in Oxford, England.