House Rules

House Rules

By: Jodi Picoult

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Summary: Jacob Hunt is a teen with Asperger’s syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, though he is brilliant in many ways. But he has a special focus on one subject—forensic analysis. A police scanner in his room clues him in to crime scenes, and he’s always showing up and telling the cops what to do. And he’s usually right. 

But when Jacob’s small hometown is rocked by a terrible murder, law enforcement comes to him. Jacob’s behaviors are hallmark Asperger’s, but they look a lot like guilt to the local police. Suddenly the Hunt family, who only want to fit in, are directly in the spotlight. For Jacob’s mother, Emma, it’s a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it’s another indication why nothing is normal because of Jacob. 

And over this small family, the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

Review: House Rules is one of the best novels I have read thus far in 2014.  It delves into the world of a family who are living in the not so black and white world of Asperger's and who have been for the past almost eighteen years.  The oldest son in the family Jacob has been diagnosed with Asperger's (he was diagnosed between two and three) which is a disease that is on the autistic spectrum but in which its suffer's are still able to function, can be very smart, but have a hard time in social situations or being able to feel any type of empathy for others or their feelings, people with asperger's often have obsessions about certain subjects and Jacob's obsession is forensic crime scenes and you can imagine the set up for a great novel.  

The plot is that Jacob's social skill's tutor disappears and he was the last known person to see her, along with a brother who gets lost in the chaos of his brothers disease, a Mother who while fighting fiercely for her son might be losing the other and herself, and a young lawyer who is finding love in the most unexpected places.  This novel was beautifully written and even Jacob at moments when you wanted to shout at him was hard not to root for or just to want to hold in the hardest moments.  I would most definitely recommend this book and will definitely be reading more Jodi Picoult novels in the near future.